Other World
by Konerok Hadorak
Summary: The League doesn't tolerate extra-dimensional summonings. That doesn't mean some don't try it out... -Naruto/League of Legends, AU Naruto-verse, Strong Naruto, Good Sasuke, Naruto/Hinata/TBR
1. Chapter 1: Known, Yet Unknown

**A/N: ** **Yes. I did just make this. No, I'm not crazy. There is a noticeable lack of Naruto/League of Legends crossovers on this site, and I aim to amend that! Of course, that said, this chapter actually took me a loooong time to make. If the file's stats are correct, I started working on this chapter around the middle of May. _Last year._ So yeah, I think it's about time for this baby to come out of the closet. So be nice! I'm not completely knowledgable on League Lore, so some of you gurus will probably find some inconsistancies. If you can bear to ignore them and go with them as AU elements, that would be awesome. At the same time, if you see something that was close to the real thing, but not quite, feel free to say so!**

**That said, I'll let you all get to reading.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 1,  
Known, Yet Unknown**

The grass was tall and it rustled little as its two inhabitants crept through it. A quick peak out showed two others beyond it. Two enemies. The small minions were whacking each other with their melee weapons while their ranged counterparts threw small spheres of light. But they couldn't be focused on now; the enemy was moving. Of course they knew that they were in the bushes. Where else could they be? The match had started several minutes before, and was progressing as all matches did.

Terribly.

The enemy walked a little bit closer and both of the first knew it was time to strike. The first sent numerous spikes shooting up from the ground beneath the other two's feet, running directly after them. The two enemies were sent soaring into the air landing on unsteady feet in surprise. But they were not helpless.

The first of the enemies ran forward dashing forward and grabbing the immediate attention of his opponents who attacked him. "You're both too slow." He taunted out as he pulled both swords from his back and hacked his way between them. Scythe met sword as Fiddlesticks got halfway through a swing before Shen intercepted him. But Cho'Gath wouldn't let that happen. With a mighty roar, he blew Shen's eardrums out.

But Shen was also not alone. With a ridiculously long leap, the burgundy clad Jax swung his lamp-post (his weapon of choice) at Cho'Gath, stunning him with the force. Even while they focused on the massive insect like creature, neither paid attention to Fiddlesticks behind them. Fiddle had not forgotten the ambush they had defeated him with earlier in the match, and he was determined to make them pay.

Cho'Gath had afforded him the few seconds he needed to exact his revenge. Gathering his magical energies, he blinked out of sight, and in a flash appeared amidst the others, a murder of crows swarming all around them like a cyclone. With a piercing look, he sent Jax stumbling back in fear while he leeched the life from Shen.

Shen retreated a little, allowing Cho'Gath to place himself behind Fiddle. But Jax had recovered and slammed his lamp into the living scarecrow so hard he didn't know which way was up. The Grandmaster at Arms marched forward to finish him off. Once again though, he was thrown into the air by a column of spikes that shot from the ground. Both Cho'Gath and Fiddle ran back to their tower in a hurry. With his crow storm used and abused, he had no secure way to kill the others with Cho as injured as he was.

They could only hug their defensive statue and recoup for now.

Well, they would have been able to too, were it not for the werewolf bearing down on them. Bearing the blessing of the lizard elder, the monster leapt forward and pinned Fiddle to the ground, slashing him repeatedly, despite the bursts of damaging light that the tower shot at him.

With a particularly powerful slash, he ripped the scarecrow in half.

But it was not the end for Fiddlesticks. His body turned to light and vanished. It would be several seconds before he could rejoin his comrade. Cho'Gath however had an easy meal as he consumed the poor wolf-man in one gulp, growing several times larger in the process.

Bottom lane was safe… for now.

Of course, Summoner 's Rift had three particular lanes that cross the humongous map. One on the bottom that curved around to the other side, a mirrored version of it as the top lane, and a straight middle lane that went from one Nexus to the other.

Fiddlesticks took the opportunity of his awaiting rebirth to look at the top lane. Gangplank and Nocturne were holding their own against Shaco, who was alone due to Jax's helping Shen just then. That let Nocturne push heavily.

In the middle lane was the new Champion. He'd just been approved by the League as an acceptable combatant on the Fields of Justice, or the arena in which they now fought. He was said to have been found wandering the expanse of the Shurima Desert. All he asked was where he was, to which the Adjudicators that found him excitedly told him. Apparently he was summoned from another universe entirely, which is notoriously forbidden. As an apology, of sorts, the League offered him a "job" as a Champion. It would give him some pay and shelter until they could find a way to right their wrong and send him back.

With no other choice, as a stranger in a strange land, he agreed. That was last week.

He'd just been put on the Summoning Roster that morning, and this was likely his first match. But despite that, he was surprisingly able. Fiddle had seen numerous men and women vomit from their first experience with "death."

In truth, when one was defeated on the Fields, their soul is collected and their body repaired and deposited back on the summoning platform they started on. The longer the match progresses the longer it takes to repair the body. But this one hadn't so much as blinked at the experience. Well, perhaps that was a hyperbole; he'd found it intriguing.

He was a bulky man that was for sure, probably as weighty as Gragas, a fellow Champion and well known drunk. However, this one was hunched over and moved slowly, as if it strained him to carry his own mass. It belied his power.

Surprisingly he was not a ranged fighter. He was in a sense, but relied on a melee attack pattern. A segmented tail that creeped out from behind him was of medium length, allowing a bit of distance to attack, but it was still limiting, especially against the bow-using Ashe: Frost Archer and Queen of Freijord.

Fiddle hadn't had time to watch him fight however, and enjoyed the moment he had to witness them kill their opposing team's minions. But soon it was time for him to rejoin them in battle and with a flash he reappeared on the Summoning Platform. With a command from his Summoner, he ambled off to the bottom lane, as Cho'Gath needed to recall to the platform to heal and resupply.

The Summoning Platform, commonly referred to as the "Fountain" was magically imbued to heal and replenish the magical energies of those who stood on it, and was guarded by a powerful defensive tower that would absolutely destroy any hostile Champion who walked on its steps.

Any Champion had the ability to "recall" from any part of the map, though it took several seconds. It may not seem like much, but anything can happen in those few seconds. _Anything._

* * *

Ashe wasn't the type for direct combat. She didn't have the armor or the stamina to sustain multiple hits from enemies. She was more the type to stand in the back and fire arrow after frozen arrow at her enemies. Her Summoner was definitely capable, as he had her poke in and out, getting a feel for this new Champion's skills and abilities. She'd felt excitement as she marched out on the field that morning; the breeze of a new day inspired her with new vigor. Not to mention that the other team had the new arrival on their side. The "newbies," as the rest of the League's Champions called the first timing fighters of the Institute, were always hard to predict and counter when they first arrive, but after perhaps a week of fighting, they were at least somewhat "dumbed down" in that new methods for fighting them were found. But she herself found it exciting.

The man in front of her was large, very wide and short. He was hunched over, and a straw hat hid the top of his head while a mask covered his face from view. He had a mechanical tail that whipped out and slashed or stabbed nearby minions. She'd managed to fire several arrows at him, but he'd shrugged them off like nothing, so she and her Summoner opted to wait until they had a bit more damage on their side.

She was happy to hear the Field's announcer declare the defeat of Fiddlesticks, but was then immediately dismayed at the second message that Cho'Gath had eaten him. If there was one thing she didn't need, it was a fed enemy Cho'Gath.

_'I've got to concentrate on the enemy at hand. He looks like he's about to try something.'_

Thanks to their telepathic link, she could sense her allies from anywhere in the arena. Warwick had resurrected and was hiding in the bushes off the side of her lane. _'This is it!'_

Drawing heavily on her mana, she fired a power frost arrow from her bow. Warwick lunged forward from the bush as soon as the arrow hit the stocky one. He froze into a statue of ice from the attack; Ashe's strongest to boot. Warwick jumped into the air and sliced right through his frozen enemy. But his steel claws met hardened shell as the ice shattered, releasing its occupant.

_'He's tough!'_ she thought as she loaded another arrow into her bow. With a swipe of his tail, he swept Warwick away and turned toward Ashe as she fired another arrow at him. He blocked it with that iron tail of his.

She backed up slowly, firing more arrows at him all the while. He didn't move, thankfully, but his defenses meant he didn't need to worry about being damaged too much. It also meant that without his tail available he couldn't attack. After all Ashe wasn't shooting plain old arrows.

One more arrow impacted against the segmented spike. Ashe smirked as Warwick returned and he tried to attack the wolf-man.

The tail was now frozen in its most critical place; its segments, the place where they connected.

"Now Warwick!" she cried as the tail froze in place. Warwick snarled and attacked viciously. It seemed like the battle was won when Warwick stumbled back, numerous knives imbedded in his chest. Ashe's eyes widened as she saw their opponent rip off his mask and fire dozens of small blades from his mouth, which now that she looked at it, was not a human's. It was segmented, like his tail.

"You guys are taking forever. Let's speed this up." His voice was deep, and it was the first time she'd heard it.

The announcer's voice came ringing throughout the arena saying, "Gangplank has been slain," and followed closely by "blue team's top turret had been destroyed."

Ashe grit her teeth. That meant top lane's defenders would be pushed back to their secondary turret, allowing the enemy more freedom to roam. Likely they would come here, and soon.

Warwick struggled to stand, but fell to a knee as soon as he did.

"Don't bother. Those knives are poisoned. Even if you make out of here, you'll die from it soon enough. Just sit there like a good dog and wait for your death."

Warwick growled deeply at the man. "These claws can steal the life from anyone they touch, as long as I keep attacking you, I'll live long enough to see you die too."

But even as he said it, he felt his limbs grow cold with numbness.

"Idiot. I told you not to move," said the man. Ashe watched as her magically empowered friendly-vision spied her other three allies heading her way from the river passage that cut through the middle of the map.

She allowed herself a brief, concealed smile. As soon as he was dead, they would push the middle lane, which allowed her to roam as well.

She loaded a fresh arrow onto her bowstring. The man looked at her with an annoyed expression. "Can't you do anything other than fire off those annoying things?"

She grinned at him. "Am I boring you, new Champion?" She couldn't quite remember his name.

The man looked askance at her, before his neck twitched toward the long grass her allies had just hidden in.

Her eyes widened in fear. _'Oh no! It's warded!'_

The man aimed his left hand in their direction and it shot off of his arm toward them. As her sharp eyes watched she saw the hand (actually a cylinder with multiple other cylindrical protrusions), she witnessed in slight horror as the cylinders broke off and in half, letting loose a hailstorm of small needles, each dripping with a purplish liquid that couldn't be mistaken for anything other than poison.

Jax, Shen and were pelted with them, though Shen managed to shield himself better than Jax, and Shaco had the foresight to vanish from the bush and make for the armored man. The demon jester, invisible for a moment attacked the shelled man with a fervor with his twin knives.

Taking the opportunity, she and her allies attacked. Shen's swords flashed in the light as they separated the man's head from his shoulders and Jax's smashing power crushed the shell on his back.

She smiled in joy as the body crumbled. "Come! Let's destroy the tower!"

The others nodded and they moved forward to attack, the minions around them feebly trying to stop them. In the back of Ashe's mind, she felt as if something wasn't quite right however. Something was out of place…

Then she realized it. The announcer hadn't called out the man's defeat. She looked to the tower and saw that her allies had stopped short, or rather, slowed down.

In front of them was a red-headed young lad. His bored amber eyes belied his power, for he wouldn't be here if he wasn't strong. But still, one so young as him? What could his true power be?

"You all are pathetically predictable."

He pushed off from where he leaned against his tower and unclasped the cloak about him. Letting it fall to the ground.

"Still, I suppose this turn of events will hurry things along..."

Her eyes widened in surprise at his body. It looked like it was almost made of… pieces, rather than a normal human. From his belly, a long, slithering cable emerged, while blade-like wings emerged from his back, and his hands sprouted two small tubes.

Now his entire team was behind him, knowing he was in danger, as was their tower.

"Ye look like ye could use a bit help thar matey!" Gangplank said as he primed his pistol. Sasori crossed his arms over his bare chest, seemingly uninterested in anything around him. Fiddlesticks looked eager to kill someone, as always, and Cho'Gath's monstrous form loomed over them from behind.

But what raised Ashe's curiosity was that they didn't even seem to be defending. They looked very relaxed. It was then that she noticed their numbers. "Look out, there's only four-!"

Her cry was silenced as the arena darkened around her. Her telepathic link with her allies was cut off and only her piercing eyes could see around her. The darkness was brief, but as soon as it lifted she found herself surrounded by chaos.

_'Damn you Nocturne!'_ she swore mentally as the phantom warrior slashed his large arm blades against Shen's katana.

She heard a rumbling from beneath her and as expected Cho'Gath's rupturing stakes rose up from the ground. She had to be careful not to be hit by them. Shaco had duplicated himself and gone after the new Champion while Jax fought lamppost-to-sword and gun with Gangplank. Distant booming sounds sounded out over the tumult and she heard the wounded Warwick cry out, "Cannons incoming!"

Each teammate took that to heart as massive exploding cannon balls began landing around them.

Fiddlesticks, not to be outdone, flashed into the midst of them, his armada of crows flying around and diving onto the five of them.

She shielded her eyes from the attack as she loaded a series of arrows into her bow and fired them blindly in a cone in front of her. It cleared her way of crows, thankfully, but she had little time to think as a wave of heat washed over her.

Burning flames poured out of the boy's hands, eerily reminiscent of Annie, the youngest Champion of the League. Inside the fire, she saw the two silhouettes of Shaco burn to a crisp. She snarled as she fired her frost arrows at him but they merely melted at the neared him. The torrent of flames streamed toward them all.

His amber eyes met hers and the whip-like cable in his gut lurched forward and with a blink of light, it was wrapped around her as he Flashed next to her. With her hands now bound, she had no hope of escape except…

Without any hesitation, he placed a palm against her chest and a burst of flames shot out, vaporizing her.

At least, that what would have happened; just as he had flashed toward her, she used her own Flash spell to escape his clutches. She backed up from the fight quickly, running back to her side of the river and to safety.

When she looked behind her, she saw the boy had turned his attention away from her and back to the team-fight. Nocturne had managed to slay Shen, and Fiddlesticks had died to Jax, poor scarecrow. Unfortunately, Jax had died to Gangplank and Shaco had died to the new Champion. Warwick was now trying feebly to escape by dashing into the bushes, but the poison in his veins kept him from escaping effectively.

She was alone now, wounded, but not gravely, against four enemies who could very easily dive on her and kill her before her defensive tower could do anything to stop them. As soon as they approached, a wave of minions leading the way, she could tell she had no choice but to let the tower die for her. She ran, following the path that led back to her secondary tower.

The path wasn't the shortest one, and it took her several minutes to reach the midpoint between them. She paused briefly to catch her breath. She glanced behind her to see the first tower crumble to pieces and heard the announcer shout out its demise. She leaned on her knees as she took calming breaths.

In the distance was the secondary tower and a crowd of minions around it, standing guard. She picked herself up and began moving again, until she noticed the figure blocking her path. _'Nocturne? How did he get here so fast?'_

Nocturne was notoriously fast, but she didn't think he was _that_ fast. She loaded an arrow into her bow and notched it. "Please move. I don't want to fight you." She said sternly.

Nocturne's ghostly face betrayed nothing as he said in a loud whispering voice. _"I'm afraid I can't do that."_ His arm blades twitched in and out of their sockets, showing his anxiety. Then with a shadowy hand, he pointed behind her. With a hesitant turn of her head, she looked back.

She was unprepared for the new Champion to be standing right behind her. She nearly tripped over herself in surprise as she backed away. In haste, she fired her arrow at his head with deadly precision.

In response, he raise his left hand a stream of flames shot out, melting the arrow before it hit him. Ashe, not to be outdone, loaded several more arrows onto her bowstring and fired them all at once.

The metal wings on the boy's back flung forward and began spinning wildly in front of him, like two buzz-saws. The flying arrows collided with the spinning blades and her arrows broke instantly. But when the blades' rotation grinded to a halt, he looked at them, only to see ice covering the gears. With a bored look, he raised a hand, spewing forth more flames at her.

She ducked to the side and rose again to fire another arrow when a thick cable wrapped around her neck solidly, lifting her several inches into the air.

Instantly, she felt her throat constrict with the pressure, even as she clawed at the metal desperately. The boy stepped up to her and gazed at her struggling form impassively. His eyes narrowed and the cord tightened immensely.

A resounding crack could be heard as her body went limp.

With an idle toss, he threw the body away, her lifeless form disappearing in a flash of light before it even hit the ground.

In the distance, the rest of his team were already at their secondary tower, hitting it with all they had, their minion followers doing the same. Sasori watched it fall in a cloud of dust, not really worrying that the enemy team would be revived soon and be after them. The single thought that was going through his mind was one of entertainment. _'This game… It seems like it could provide me amusement for a while.'_

The cord retracted and coiled about the inside of his waist even as he stepped forward beside Nocturne. The phantom killer looked at him with a growing sense of respect, but not a diminished desire to kill him. Nocturne was just that way; he'd kill his own teammates if he were permitted.

Sasori gave him a sideways glare. "You'll have your chance, I'm sure."

Nocturne's fingers flexed. _"I know. I just can't wait for it."_

Sasori gave a small chuckle before small blue rings of magic encircled him. "This match is already over. We might as well have fun with what's left of it."

Nocturne gave what could probably be translated into a snort as he too began the recall spell. Both of them watched on for the few seconds it took for the spell to complete. In the distance, two other recall spells shot up into the sky, Cho'Gath and Gangplank having had the same idea as them.

The momentum was in their favor, and for Sasori's first match, it was good start.

* * *

Ashe stretched her stiff limbs as the reinvigoration magic took effect, healing her and repairing her clothes, armor and weapons, and restoring her mana reserves and body back to normal status. She groaned as she felt her neck pop when she twisted it. She winced as she felt a lingering pain of her former asphyxiation during the match. They'd lost, of course; purple team's minions pushed a third tower before anyone had a chance to stop them, and the inhibitor was badly damage by the time they cleared them away.

Now that she had time to think outside of the match, and about the certain individual who'd just made his debut, she would probably classify the new Champion as an offensive support mage. He didn't have the raw power that other mages had, but his area-of-effect abilities, like his flame thrower and his crowd-control abilities, like the cord, meant he could hold someone down and do constant damage to them while the more beefy Champions caught up to finish them off.

The first of his kind, as far as she knew. Karma, the Ionian fan-user was similar, but had very little crowd-control, and was more of direct support.

She rubbed her left shoulder and cracked her neck in the other direction.

"Man that match was rough." Came a sudden voice from behind her.

She looked up to see Ezreal, one of them few teenaged Champion of the league standing in the doorway, looking sympathetic. Ashe gave a mirthless laugh. "Yeah, it was wasn't it?"

Ezreal took the response as an OK to come in. "A lot of Summoners were watching the match and want to make a contract with the new guy. What was his name again?"

"Sasori, I think," she said as she stood. "He's an interesting opponent, and I'll admit he's quite scary. You two would probably get along."

Ezreal gave her a raised eyebrow. "How do ya figure that?"

Ashe shrugged her shoulders. "Well, you're both the same age, so I just assumed. Besides, I have a feeling he's a different person outside the arena."

"Again… How do ya figure?"

Ashe gave him a mischievous look. "Call it a woman's intuition."

The boy rolled his eyes at her. "In other words, you have no idea."

She brushed passed him, purposefully ignoring his jab on her way out. He turned and followed.

"So where is he? I heard he was staying here at the Institute until he gets familiar with the place."

Ashe shook her head. "You're the explorer; go figure it out." She smirked at him as she turned at an adjacent hallway and broke company with him.

She smiled at his retreating form and continued on her way. Much of her time was spent in Freljord, ruling over her people, but quite often she would be called to take part in the League's battles. It also didn't hurt that it kept her skills sharp. It was common for one to see other Champions running through the halls, or sitting in the library reading.

As she passed by said library, out walked the last person she'd expected to meet. It was the boy from the earlier match. He now wore a black cloak with a high collar and strange red clouds patterned on them. The inside of the cloak was made of a fine, red silk, from what she could see, and its long sleeves hid all but the tips of his fingers.

She stopped as he walked out, greeting him in the process. He looked at her with an emotionless expression.

"You're from the match today," he stated plainly.

She nodded. "My name is Ashe. Pleased to meet you." She smiled as she extended her hand to him. To her mild surprise, he simply gave her a nod of respect, though he did not reciprocate her gesture.

"I heard about you from many of the Champions here. You're very popular with the Summoners; even the weakest ones."

Ashe gave a shrug, knowing he was right. "It's a pleasure to help those in need. If no one wanted to help the new Summoners, then there'd never be any experienced Summoners, now would there?"

The boy didn't react with much expression. "That may be so, but if that _is_ the case, I'll leave jobs like that to you. I prefer to work with professionals."

Ashe nodded. Champions were often approached by Summoners for a summoning contract, an agreement that allows the Summoner to use them in matches. Of course, Champions had their standards; they'd often do research to see if they could find history on the Summoner. They'd look at their previous records, other known contracts, and known associates, if they had any.

Sasori seemed like the type to prefer the higher tiers of Summoners. Most of the newest Champions of the League were hard to contract, and Ashe had a sneaking suspicion it was due to bloated egos; just being accepted into the League could do that to you.

"Excuse me."

She blinked back to reality, realizing Sasori had just to excuse himself from her conversation. He simply turned and walked away. She normally would have turned and left as well, but she felt her gaze fall upon the back of his retreating form. She felt her curiosity pique and in an instant she knew she would be asking around about his past for the next few days.

* * *

Sasori closed the door to his lavish room. Well, it would have been lavish had he preferred it. But he liked it to be sparse, fitting with his Shinobi lifestyle. Instead, there was a workstation off to the side, a bedroom on the other side and a small congregation room. The League had room service as well as a communal feasting hall so there was no need for a kitchen.

He looked around the room until his eyes fell on his workstation. He made his way to it, pulling off his robe and grabbing a screwdriver and wrench. On the table lay an unfinished puppet, to which he immediately got to work on. It was so habitual to work on puppets that it allowed his mind to wander, even as his skilled hands guided pieces to where they needed to go.

He was alone in this strange world. Whoever summoned him here obviously didn't know who he was summoning or from where. Or else he'd have chosen a better fighter than a puppet master. Sure he was strong, but there were several other stronger fighters in the Shinobi world that he could have chosen.

But if he had anything to say about it, the Summoner (or group of Summoners) wouldn't be able to resist summoning more form his world; not after the show he put on during that mornings' match.

Sasori scoffed aloud to himself. "I wonder who'll be their next new recruit..." He looked at his creation on the table and affixed chakra strings to it, making it stand. "It's a pity I can't make puppets out of the other Champions here. Such a pity..." He smiled smugly as he turned the marionette this way and that, admiring his own work.

His puppets were after all his only company. But they wouldn't be for long, of that he had no doubt.

* * *

In the midst of the forests of Ionia, the summoning magic had been set. It was ready. Indeed, the man who stood at the center of the circle of energy was _very_ pleased with the results of his last summoning. "Sasori, the Master of Puppets" had turned out to be a powerful warrior, one the elites of the Institute would wish to contract with. Already there were rumors that the proverbial "line" was a mile long.

Everyone he talked to spoke of the young lad's power and skill, and when they weren't talking about the lad himself, they were talking of out to fight with him, how to sync with him perfectly to bring out his full power.

It was glorious, and even though the world didn't know that _he_ was the one who brought the Puppet Master here, he was happy with being the unsung hero. Naturally, what he was doing was against The Summoner's Code, but regardless of that, by the time he was done, other Summoners would be so thankful for his actions that he would have near diplomatic immunity.

Yes, he would be an iconic figure in the League of Legends, and whether he ended up being famous or infamous, he honestly didn't mind. It was the beginning of something new; something _great._

And he was at the center of it.

"The circle is ready, let the summoning commence."

* * *

**Three hours later…**

Irelia really wasn't a lavish person; she liked the simple things, but as the Captain of the Guard (who had an abundance of adoring fans) she didn't always have the opportunity to enjoy that simplicity before she was given gifts from her countrymen and women. However, what she cherished most were the gifts from the children of her nation. One, because they gave her gifts not really knowing what she did, and two because they were just so innocent… so pure.

A lot were simple, often bad quality drawings from children who simply sent a note at their parent's behest that said "thank you for keeping us safe, from etc etc" and included a poorly drawn picture of her and the child together in some famous or familiar place.

It was adorable no matter how you looked at it. She specifically set aside one of her room's walls as a display just for them. She sat on her bed, looking at the multitude of papers with a sense of pride. She desired to protect and serve her country, and the messages from such little ones were an encouragement, more so than their senders could ever realize.

A knock at her door stirred her from her thoughts. "Just a moment." She stood, smoothing the folds of her robes and strode over to the door and opened it. Outside stood a page who held a small letter in his hands.

"Sorry to disturb you ma'am, but this came just now from the Navori region border patrol."

Irelia looked at him curiously before taking the letter from his hands. Unfolding it, she glanced through several times before turning back to the page. "Alert the Kinkou Order, I'll be along shortly."

She barely heard the "yes ma'am" before she closed the door and went over to her wardrobe, pulling out her armor. Nearby, her blades levitated over to her, buzzing as if with excitement. They whizzed over to her side as she donned her radiant red armor. She quickly finished putting it all on before leaving the room, her blades following close beside her.

As soon as she left her room, she was joined by a duo of guards that rushed to her. "Reporting for duty ma'am."

She signaled them to follow and they did so as she made her way out of her villa's main building and to the courtyard where her horse waited. Another pair were brought from the stable when the gathered soldiers and workers saw that they were to follow her. They mounted as soon as they were brought to them.

"I'm heading to the Navori region. I'll be back in a couple of days." And without another word she gave her horse a kick and they all three charged off out the villa's front gate.

* * *

**One day later**

Never before had Akali hunted someone as elusive as her current target. He, or she, was very smart, and stealthy. When the Kinkou Order had been requested to help hunt down the target, she had been slightly surprised. The Kinkou Order was rarely called upon to take care of something in place of the regular army. Not only that, but the fact that Irelia herself was coming to oversee the capture (or death) of the target meant that it must be someone big.

From what she'd been told, the target had been found near an unauthorized summoning circle and was suspected of being the Summoner that had brought the new Champion Sasori to Runeterra several weeks ago. But as she pursued her query, she felt more and more assured that it _wasn't _the Summoner. Summoners weren't known for their physical prowess after all. Whoever this was, he was skilled.

A shadow of movement caught her eye and she saw that it was her ally Kennen.

Beyond them lay more trees. The forests were perfect for concealing them, but it also seemed to be a similar habitat for their enemy. Of course, with Kennen's raw energy, he would probably be the first to spot the target. And spot him he did. With a swing of his hand, a beloved shuriken crackled with electricity and flew through the air, cutting through several trees in its path.

There was a whizzing, and then the sound of metal making contact. They leapt forward and landed on the ground, looking around for their prey. What they saw worried Akali.

The shuriken lay on the ground in two pieces, the insides still hot from where they'd been split. Kennen likewise looked stunned. Few things had ever been able to deflect his shuriken, let alone split it in half, especially when charged with electrical energy.

They stood there for only a moment before something flashed from the corner of her eye. A shining metal shuriken, much smaller than her partner's, came wheeling at her from the brush. They both dodged to the side, well out range of the spinning blade.

Which was why it surprised her when she felt a sharp pain from her side as she dodged. When she landed, she looked down to see a small cut in her abdomen. Not fatal, but painful nonetheless. She looked back to where the shuriken landed. Well, should have landed. But what she saw were only split branches and tree trunks. Her eyes furrowed in concern. Just what power did this person have? Hopefully, she wouldn't have to wait too long to find out.

Kennen quickly threw his own shuriken into the bush, trying to drive out their opponent. And out he came. He jumped straight up, landing on a branch above him. But what shocked both of them was that he landed on the _underside _of the limb, and stuck fast.

He wore black clothes with orange patterns on them. On his head he wore a headband with a metal plate on it. On the plate was a foreign symbol of some kind.

He looked at them seriously. Akali leapt forth, bringing her two kama in front of her as she made to decapitate him.

With an inhuman twist of his neck and back he lifted his head, narrowly missing the lethal blow. Akali wasn't expecting that. She'd fully expected him to be dead as soon as she landed. She twisted in midair to land facing him, but as soon as she turned around, the boy was missing.

Oh, right, and he was pretty close to her age, maybe a bit younger. She was nearly eighteen, and this kid looked maybe sixteen or seventeen. Before she could blink, he was in the air, spinning rapidly toward her.

With a painful kick, she went crashing into a tree behind her. Kennen came at him from behind with a surge of lightning. The boy whipped out a knife from his sleeve and turned to face the coming onslaught. But to her surprise, again, the boy deflected the incoming Yordle, using the momentum to push himself away as well.

By now, Akali had recovered and dashed toward the boy, bringing her kama to bear. But the boy saw it and raised his small knife up to defend himself.

The next few seconds were a blur to her.

The boy sliced right through her weapons (though how she didn't know, since his knife didn't even touch her blades at all) and she was sent crashing into the nearby foliage. Kennen threw several shuriken, each charged with deadly lightning. In response the boy threw several of his own. The skill with which he did so inspired Akali; if it weren't for the powerful cutting energy in Kennen's throwing stars, they probably would have all been deflected.

But when they met, they were each cut through with deadly efficiency. Kennen's shuriken that is. Each one sliced right through. If her eyes weren't wide right now, then Kennen's surely were. Nothing had ever cut through his shuriken like this before.

Then she saw it. On the edges of blades the boy was idly spinning on his fingers were thin, near invisible blades of air.

_'An air element fighter!'_

Like Janna, but far more lethal. Janna could form the wind into a bruising force, but this boy could morph it into a sharp cutting blade that not only could cut through lightning, but also extend the blade's reach.

With a grunt of effort, she threw down a smoke bomb and watched as the chemical dispersed, shrouding them in shadows. She crouched down low in the smoke, as Kennen landed next to her. They both knew they had to approach this carefully.

He was strong, that much was undeniable. She gave a nod to her partner and settled back into a leaping position. With a spring of energy, she shot forward, using the shadows of the smoke to hide her presence. Silently leaping from branch to branch she saw the faint outline of her target and launched herself at him.

Having lost her kama earlier, much to her regret, she tackled him from the branch he was on to the ground. They both landed with a grunt, and as soon as he realized what was happening, he began struggling against her grip. She had her arms wrapped around his arms and chest, but that didn't stop his sharp elbows from nailing her gut.

"Ngh…! Now Kennen!"

Instantly she felt her captive's muscles tighten in preparation for her ally's attack. Bright streaks of lightning flashed from the sky, tearing through trees and stones as they homed in on them both.

The boy shifted his shoulders and ripped his arms free from her grasp and gave her a hard elbow to the face. With a dash of speed, he began running and jumping erratically through the forest, trying to avoid the deadly lightning bolts as the ninja Yordle pursued.

Akali took her brief respite to collect herself and balance from the dizziness she felt. She watched from a distance as the fight traveled farther and farther away from her position. It was only when she couldn't see them anymore that she could hear the armored footsteps of soldiers approaching her.

After a few seconds, they came into the clearing, now empty of smoke and clearly wrecked. Six soldiers flanked the ruler of Ionia, her bright red armor not at all blending in with the green scenery. Irelia took the scene in in an instant.

She turned to the young ninja girl. "What happened here?"

Akali took a deep breath and calmed herself. "We confronted the target, but he got away. My partner is in pursuit."

"Then let us follow, we cannot lose this opportunity!" Akali gave a nod and led the way after Kennen. Not that she needed to; the path to him was littered with destroyed forest. They were fast, for soldiers, and were easily capable of fighting and defeating ten men each.

They closed the gap between them and the distant fight (which was now audible). When at last they reached the battlefield, Akali was shocked to see Kennen's unconscious form half buried in a crater several feet deep. Atop the risen dirt on the other side of the impromptu clearing, the boy stood, albeit shakily, and with several cuts and bruises, and even a few burn marks on his clothes and skin. He was breathing heavily.

When he spotted the newcomers, he gritted his teeth and made to leap away. But as soon as he tried, his right leg gave way and he toppled to the ground. A short cry of pain went out from his lips as he pushed himself back up. Akali was about to charge at him, but a red blur from beside her beat her to it.

Her magical blades following, Irelia rushed forward, slamming into the boy and pinning him to the side of a tree beyond. He cried out in pain as the quartet of blades sank deep into his arms and legs. But when the sound stopped, he glared fiercely into Irelia's eyes even as a trickle of blood slid down his chin.

The soldiers surrounded them, leveling their weapons at him just in case he tried anything. Irelia gave no notion she was intimidated by him though, and glared just as strongly back at him.

"Target captured," she announced. Akali made her way to the center of the crater and lifted the small Yordle into her arms.

He groaned as he awoke. "Kennen, are you alright?"

He gave a slight nod and true to his nature he hopped out of her arms and to the ground. Despite being a deadly creature, Akali took secret pleasure in holding Kennen. He was like a big teddy bear, and he was just so cute! But she kept that to herself.

Kennen looked to were the boy was carefully being removed from the tree and bound with magical chains to keep him secure.

Kennen watched for a while before he spoke again. "Akali, I don't think he's the Summoner."

Akali gave him a curious glance and raised an eyebrow. "You think he's the summoned?"

Kennen gave a hesitant nod. "Well, he isn't wearing any Summoner clothes or runes, and his abilities aren't anything like what we know Summoners use. It makes sense…. Doesn't it?"

Akali turned from his questioning glance and looked back to where they were restraining the boy. True enough, he didn't look like a Summoner, and he was uniquely gifted. If anything, he was more like the Shadow Warriors than a Summoner.

Without a word, she walked over to where Irelia and her guards were standing/working. "Miss Irelia, a word please?"

Irelia looked at her and nodded. "Make sure he doesn't get loose," she ordered to her soldiers as her blades withdrew from his skin, following behind her as she moved away.

Kennen didn't follow them as they stepped off to the side, but as he watched them, he could tell Akali was raising his concern to her. Irelia looked over at the boy on the ground a few times and after a minute gave a hesitant nod to Akali.

Irelia walked over to the wounded boy and looked him over. His breathing was a bit labored, and his wounded legs were bleeding. His scorched and sliced skin was in awful condition, but such could be expected from fighting the Fist of Shadow and the Heart of the Tempest at the same time. His eyes were darting around him at a rapid pace, even as he struggled to break free of his bonds.

After several seconds Irelia spoke. "Boy, what's you name."

He looked at her and snarled. "Piss off bitch. You can't hold me forever."

She slammed a fist into his wounded leg and then grabbed him by the throat. "Your name, boy."

His cry of pain turned into a strained snicker. "That the best you can do?" There was an audible hissing sound that drew Irelia's attention away from his face and toward the leg she'd just hit. To her shock, the wound was sealing itself shut at an inhumanly fast pace.

As she stared at the injury, she heard a loud click and looked back up. What she saw was the boy's fist cocked back ready to hit her, somehow free from his cuffs. She didn't have time to dwell on it before she found herself reeling from the blow. She caught herself before she completely hit the ground and looked back to the now free blonde.

He spun his legs around him as he twisted on his hands, knocking his captors around like paper dolls. Flipping upright, he rolled his neck around, reveling in the cracking sounds it made and the relief he felt. "Nnngh yeah…"

His arms and legs hissed as their wounds closed, a pungent steam rising from them. "You can't catch a Shinobi like me that easily!" he boasted with a smile, as if all of them attacking him hadn't angered him in the least.

Something in the back of Akali's mind whispered to her. Something about what he said was familiar. But why? The gears in her mind kick-started, grinding as she racked her brain for the origin of that strange familiarity. Then it hit her. One of the words he had said.

The soldiers around her leveled their weapons at the boy and Irelia's blades whirled back to her, ready to strike. Kennen was crouched low, prepared to pound on the stranger with all his might; sparks of electricity were already leaping from his feet as he readied himself.

The boy noticed this and, his grin faltering, also crouched lower, either to run or to defend himself.

"Wait!"

Everyone turned to Akali as she placed herself between her allies and her enemy. Irelia looked at her strangely as did the boy, though by the time the young Shadow Warrior turned to him he'd already begun backing up, his eyes subtly looking for an escape route.

Akali turned to the boy, placing Irelia behind her. "What did you just call yourself just now?"

The boy looked at her strangely, not exactly sure what was going on. "Um, a Shinobi?"

Akali nodded her head, now certain that was what was scratching at the back of her mind. "Yes, what is that?"

The boy looked at her as if she were crazy. "Wow… what the hell have you been hiding under if you don't know what a Shinobi is? I'm a ninja, duh!"

Both Akali and Kennen's eyes both widened and then narrowed. That explained a bit. He was definitely ninja-like, though perhaps lacking on the stealthy side. He used ninja weapons, fought using his surroundings to his advantage, and had unique elemental abilities. He wasn't of the Kinkou Order that was certain; he didn't have any of the attributes that their kind possessed. If anything he looked far too carefree and rambunctious to be an acceptable assassin.

"Where are you from, boy?" Irelia asked, her blades lowering ever so slightly, but not unprepared to act at their master's will.

"Geez, quite calling me 'boy' already! I'm Uzumaki Naruto of Konoha, get used to it!"

Kennen perked up and spoke to him for the first time. "Konoha?"

"Yeah, Konohagakure no Sato." At their silence, his face went front from a, _what's-wrong-with-you_ expression, to an _oh-you've-got-to-be-kidding-me_ one.

"Leaves! The Village Hidden in the fucking Leaves! Damn, you guys don't know anything!" His facial expressions changed from irritation to near anger. He slapped his palm against his face in annoyance.

Suddenly the rabbit trail connected for Akali. "Wait, is that near the Village Hidden in the Sand?"

Instantly the boy's frustration evaporated and changed to a look of suspicion. "How do you know about them?"

Akali, now knowing that this boy was from the same place as Sasori, knew how to diffuse this hostile situation. "Another person from that village came here several weeks ago. His name was Sasori. Is that familiar to you?"

A spark of recognition lit up in Naruto's eyes. "…Akasuna no Sasori?"

Akali, for the most part sure that it was the same person, though she didn't know what "akasuna" meant, nodded. "Yes, I think so."

Immediately, Naruto's eyes hardened. "Where is he?" It was less a question and more of a demand. The slightly-jovial atmosphere around him vanished into an air of sheer determination. "He is a threat to my village. I've been specifically ordered to kill him on sight."

He pulled out a small knife and pointed it at the assorted crowd. "You _will_ tell me where he is."

Akali placed her hands in front of her. "N-Now hold on now there's no need for violence. I think we need to explain a few things first." She looked to her leader and sent a questioning look her way.

Irelia nodded and stepped forward. "I'm Irelia, Captain of the Guard of Ionia. You probably don't know where that is, do you?"

"Never heard of it," Naruto said, rolling his eyes.

"Well then, like my friend said, we need to explain some things first. So if you're willing, we can escort you back to my estate."

Naruto snorted in laughter. "Isn't it a bit soon to be inviting me over to your house? Sadly, I must decline your most gracious offer, as my heart belongs to another," he said over-dramatically, even as the image indigo hair fluttered in his mind. "Her name is-…"

Suddenly, his eyes snapped open and he faced them, slitted black pupils standing out clearly against his crimson eyes. **"…-Kyuubi!" **

With a swing of his arm, red wisps of energy lashed out against the gathered , each tendril of destruction acting as a sharpened whip, slicing through trees and the ground itself as they homed in on his opponents. **"Hahaha! Eat it!" **

It happened too fast for them to see, too fast for them to register. In the blink of an eye the red energy that was leashed to his body vanished like mist, and his red eyes changed back to their azure orbs.

But it wasn't the boy that their attention was directed at now. It was the form of another boy, much colder looking that the first. He was faced away from them, and subsequently, toward Naruto. He stood eyelevel with him until Naruto wobbled a bit. The newcomer caught him easily enough, steadying him.

"…Eheh, thanks Sasuke. You're a life-saver…" Naruto said groaning slightly and clutching his head.

The boy named Sasuke gave a sort of grunt, and let Naruto go. He turned to the spectators behind them. This boy wore a mix of white and purple; a white shirt that hung open in the front and was tucked into his black pants, around which was wrapped a purple rope-obi. A sword was tucked neatly behind him, interwoven with the rope cords.

His black hair accented his white shirt, but it was his hypnotizing eyes that grabbed their attention. They were crimson, not unlike how Naruto's had been a moment before, but instead of feline slits for pupils, they were a series of three black commas revolving around a larger black pupil. But as soon as they saw them, they were gone, replaced by a pair of cold, onyx eyes.

"It seems in this particular instance, I was." He said, likely referring to saving _their _lives from Naruto. Whatever that red energy was, it was extremely lethal.

"And what was that about the Kyuubi being the love of your life?" Sasuke asked suspiciously, eyeing his comrade from the side. Naruto held his arms out in front of him and laughed nervously.

"Ah, well about that… I didn't really mean the Kyuubi. I was talking about someone else, but then the Kyuubi kind of popped in there and… yeah."

Sasuke shook his head and sighed. "If it were anyone other than me…" he mumbled under his breath.

Naruto got up and swung his arm around his friend's shoulder. "I know! That's why you're my best friend, riiiiight?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes away from Naruto, not caring for his antics at the moment. Instead, he turned to Irelia, seeing as she was clearly the one in command. "I'm Uchiha Sasuke. We'll accept your request for talks. After all, if I'm right, I doubt we're in a position, or _place_ to negotiate."

Irelia gave a nod, knowing what he meant. She directed them all to follow her. If they _had_ been illegally summoned, then they probably had no idea how far from their home they _really_ were. "Well head for the Kinkou Order, since it's nearest. We'll rest and explain things there, agreed?"

As they all settled with the decision, Sasuke turned to the small ninja Yordle. "I hope my friend didn't cause you too much trouble. As a fellow Raiton user, I know how hard it can be to fight a Fuuton user like him."

Kennen blinked as he sorted through Sasuke's words. His choice of words implicated that he was a lightning user too, by the word "fellow" and that regarding how hard it was to fight the boy's wind techniques, which he assumed was what "Fuuton" meant. He wasn't sure, but it sounded like this Sasuke guy was a lightning element user too, which made this the first time Kennen had met someone else with similar abilities before, excluding Volibear, who wasn't specifically lighting based.

Shaking off his excitement, he shook his head. "Not a problem! If we fight again, I'm sure I'll win."

Sasuke gave the small strange creature a smirk. Even if it was covered in clothes, he could see fur on the thing's face. Naruto may have thought he was a midget, but Sasuke clearly saw that it wasn't human. _'Hmm, giant hamster or small bipedal bobcat? Eh, I'll go with hamster.'_

It was funnier that way.

* * *

"So, let me get this straight… You want us to believe that we've been… 'summoned' to another world by 'magic,' and that this sort of thing happens all the time?" Naruto asked, extreme skepticism showing in his voice.

Irelia simply nodded blankly. "Yes. Well, actually, summoning from other worlds and realities is _strictly_ prohibited, and anyone who's caught doing so is severely punished. You see, summoning is easy, reverse summoning is… a bit more difficult, so we can't just send those who are illegally summoned back. Immediately anyway."

Naruto stared at her blankly. "Yeeaaah… you lost me at 'magic'."

The young woman took a start at that. "You've… never heard of magic?"

"Nope," said the blonde simply.

"Magic is simply cheap illusions and parlor tricks," Sasuke elaborated. He sat quietly on a plush chair in one of the Kinkou Order's common rooms. His sword leaned against the right arm rest, close at hand, just in case. His arms were crossed coldly. "Real 'magic' does not exist."

He looked at her impassively, though mentally correcting himself slightly. _'At least, not where we're from…'_

Irelia looked at them quietly for a moment, with Akali and Kennen glancing between the three of them. An elder of the Order sat nearby, listening eagerly

At last Irelia nodded to herself. "In that case, what do you call the energy that allows you to do… what you do?" Kennen and Akali had both briefly spoken to her in private about the blonde's abilities, just in case something happened. Though they didn't know the obsidian eyed one's powers, at least they'd have a leg up on the other.

But that was, of course, a worst case scenario.

Naruto suddenly became uncharacteristically silent. He glanced to his right at Sasuke, whose eyes were closed.

Irelia looked at them expectantly. "If it's any comfort, there are many with strange powers all over Runeterra. You needn't feel ashamed or careful; we found you, and we'll take care of you, if you'll let us."

Sasuke's eyes opened. "Two things: who is 'we' and 'why?'" He fixed her with a no-nonsense look that said he was very obviously suspicious of her and the others.

She hesitated a moment before laughing mirthlessly. "Ah, I see. We haven't exactly informed you have we?" She turned to the Order elder. "Can we borrow a map? I'm afraid we left ours on the horses."

"Oh, of course." The man compliantly nodded and got up, shuffling over to the other side of the room where a littered, but still organized table sat. Presently, he picked up a brown parchment and came back over, unfolding the map on the center coffee table that sat between them all.

"We are here." She pointed to small land mass to the up right of the map. "Ionia."

Sasuke and Naruto both looked at the map carefully, looking for the all-too familiar continents and seas of their home. There were no similarities. Runeterra was a large island land, with nothing around it except smaller land masses, in the form of Ionia and Blue Flame Island. On second glance, there _was_ another island far up and to the left most corner of the map; the Shadow Isles.

After several long moments, Sasuke sat back, his look showing he was no longer interested in the map. "…I see…" he said at last.

Irelia, taking the advantage of the ensuing silence, continued on. "The nations of Runeterra are essentially city-states. Since you were found in Ionia, it's only expected that we take care of you until, well, such a time as you wish to leave."

Naruto sighed softly. "Man… Danzo's gonna freak," he said, his hand sliding down his face as he mumbled to himself.

Sasuke threw his partner a look before realizing that it was probably pointless; this world had no knowledge of Danzo. It probably wouldn't hurt anything to let his name slip.

Akali noticed the look, but said nothing.

Sasuke folded his hands in front of him, resting them in front of his mouth as he leaned forward on his knees. "…And in return?"

Irelia blinked. "You have no obligation to do anything for us. All we are offering is a place for you to live until you are sent home."

Sasuke looked at her calmly. "Forgive me for being cynical, but I have yet to meet any genuine politician who would offer assistance to two powerful, unknown killers without a self-serving reason. So I'll ask you again; what do you want?"

The Captain of the Guard swallowed deftly. She hesitated before speaking again. "W-well, the thought _did_ cross my mind…"

"Captain…" cautioned the old man, but she went on.

"Ionia has many enemies… Zuanite mercenaries, Noxus, and even Demacia will not ally fully with us. And as you can see, we are a small nation." She gestured to the map with a wave. "Though direct conflict is… discouraged by the League, we still fear for our safety. If you two are willing, you could become Champions of Ionia; iconic figures who can help quell the temptation of war."

Naruto quirked an eyebrow and Akali could already guess what it was for. _'They don't know what the League is…'_ She was about to voice her opinions to the Captain when Sasuke cut her off.

"What makes you think we're _that_ capable?" he asked, testing the verbal ground he stood on.

Irelia motioned to the two Shadow Warriors to her right, their left. "If you can match the strength of these, which you've already proven to be capable of doing, then you are surely able to become Champions. I, for example, am a Champion, as are both Akali and Kennen. The stronger we are, the more deterrence is placed on potential enemy city-states."

Sasuke glanced to the side to see Naruto's opinion, only to see him quiet in thought. After a few seconds, the blonde spoke. "You mentioned a 'League.' What is that? Some sort of governing body?"

Irelia made a face, realizing they wouldn't obviously know about it. Akali's expression changed to one of relief, thankful the subject on her mind was voiced. It would have been awkward if they went through the massive explanation only to find out most of it went over their heads.

"Oh, sorry! Of course, you wouldn't know," she said apologetically, though Sasuke couldn't tell if the emotion was real or forced. "The League is a neutral, third party organization in charge of maintaining peace and balance between all nations of Runeterra. If a country wants to challenge someone else for something, the League also becomes host to a competition on the Fields of Justice."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at her, silently beckoning her to elaborate.

"The Fields of Justice is, as simply put as possible, a massive arena where Champions fight. Often, Summoners control us Champions through a magical link that allows us and them to sort of… meld mentally. We understand their thoughts, and they see through our eyes, hear through our ears… you see?"

Naruto huffed. "Now doesn't _that_ sound familiar…" he mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

Irelia looked at him questioningly, as if silently asking whether he'd experienced something similar before, only for Sasuke to prod her to continue so she obliged.

"Essentially, Summoners are special mages with great power, capable of syncing with us. Provided they have the right credentials, we allow them to use us in matches. Some competitions are simply to hone a Summoner's skills, while others are for political conflicts, in which said countries will hire the best Summoners to participate on their behalf."

"And you want us to become vassals for your country; Champions to be summoned for gladiatorial fights? How slighting…"

Irelia, sensing she seemed to have hit a prideful nerve, quickly corrected herself. "It's not necessarily like that; the combat that goes on on the Fields is very tactical and strategy based. Work with your team, lead your troops, defeat the enemy."

Seeing Sasuke's skeptic look, she nodded to herself. "It's probably hard to imagine without seeing it for yourself." She let a silence fall over them, allowing them time to think.

After some time, Naruto spoke. "These… 'Summoners…' What are the parameters of who they can control, and, what are limits they can control you?"

Irelia took that as a positive sign and continued. "If a certain Champion catches a Summoner's eye, they can request the permission to use us in competitions. However, we alone give consent to that. Some Champions allow even the newest of Summoners to use us. A gracious quality our pride doesn't always allow…" she quietly admitted.

Sasuke looked between the three warriors in front of him. "And what qualities would they need to have before you allow them to use you?"

"In a word, influence. The more a Summoner participates, the more influence he gains. This influence is both social, and magical. The magical influence allows him the ability to control a higher tier Champion better, while the social influence allows him or her to gain an audience with us, personally, to request our approval."

Noticing their blank looks, she went on. "That's not to say we always agree. It's rare, but some have been known to turn a Summoner down. We don't fight for just anyone with connects you know. Often, we will do our own background checks on the Summoner, seeing who he participates with. If he tends to fraternize with our enemies, or with Champions who support our enemies, we would likely say no."

"So we have the choice to allow them or not," Naruto clarified. She nodded.

Naruto leaned forward and rested his chin in the crook of his thumb, visibly pondering everything he'd been offered. Sasuke likewise closed his eyes and thought.

They were silent before another voice spoke up, this time from the green clad girl who sat on her knees beside her ally. "Miss Irelia is too humble to say it, but both she and my friend, Kennen, are of the highest tier of Champions. I'm… more towards the middle myself."

Naruto glanced at her, but his glance turned into a stare. "Your name was Akali, right?" She nodded.

Naruto paused, not saying anything more, but pursing his lips and simply looked at her. She shifted slightly under his gaze, but it wasn't long before she realized he wasn't looking at her. Rather, he wasn't looking at anything in particular at all, almost like he was staring off into space. She deftly glanced to the side and saw Kennen give her the same look she had.

Sasuke simply looked at Naruto, silently waiting for what would come next. After a minute or so, the blonde seamlessly came back to reality.

"He says it'd be entertaining," he said at last, though his words confused those around him. Sasuke smirked, though, apparently understanding what he was talking about.

"Of course he would." He snorted lightly before looking back at Irelia. "Before we give an answer, I think it's only fair we visit this 'League' for ourselves. Is this agreeable."

The woman nodded. "Oh, perfectly. We will leave in the morning. Until then, if it's permissible, take a tour of the Order. It's a quite a place, and not many people get to even be as far as this room."

The old man next to her nodded and stood. "Of course, we'd be happy to show them our home. Choose your guides and do as you wish, but please try not to disturb any of the students in their training."

While he was speaking to Sasuke and Naruto, his parting words seemed to be directed to the two others.

_'In other words, don't let them get into to trouble.'_ The Uchiha let himself smirk slightly as he stood. "In that case, if I may, I'll have the small one."

"Yordle." Akali informed carefully. "Yordles are indigenous to Yordle Land and are naturally small." She pointed at the map and Sasuke followed its direction.

"I see. Kennen was your name, yes?"

The furry creature nodded. "Yes. Your name was…?" He trailed off questioningly.

"Sasuke. Uchiha Sasuke."

An odd name. But he couldn't begrudge someone of their name. "OK then Uchiha, follow me."

"Just Sasuke. Uchiha is my last name," he corrected.

Kennen gave him a strange look. "Do you always introduce yourselves with your last name first?"

"More or less. It's custom for our family name to come first in an introduction."

Kennen stood as well, accepting the fact easily. An honorable notion; to place the family name first. "Alright then, let's go!" The Heart of the Tempest gestured for the boy to follow as he led him out of the room.

"I guess I'm stuck with you, huh?" Naruto said jokingly, laughing lightly as he looked at the Fist of Shadow. But the look he received was less than friendly.

"I might say the same."

He cringed slightly. Apparently she didn't joke well.

She looked at him sternly. "I am Akali, the Fist of Shadow. I'll be your guide from here on." While she didn't take kindly to his teasing tone, she couldn't easily forget what this boy alone had been able to do while fighting both her _and_ her ally only the day before. But even so, she had to admit it; with him sitting there in front of her, knowing that neither were an enemy to each other, he actually looked quite friendly.

"Uzumaki Naruto. Err…Naruto… Uzumaki, I guess," the blonde stuttered slightly at the mix-up. _'That sounds so weird!'_ He shivered off the foreign feeling and shrugged. "Lead the way."

She nodded and turned, walking out of the room with him in tow.

When the four others had left the room, Irelia looked to the old master still beside her. "What do you think?"

"Actually, it's strange. When they first came in, and even during the discussion, aside for their general lack of knowledge about Runeterra, they didn't feel all that foreign. In fact, if I were to be completely honest, I'd say they felt almost eerily _familiar._"

The Captain of the Guard cocked her head to the side curiously. "Familiar?"

The man nodded. "If I had to describe it, it was like I was talking to two of our very own Warriors. Closed, guarded, ready… With the kind of connection to each other that we promote in our own trainees. I have no doubt that without even looking, those two could read each other's mind."

"So… what does that mean?"

"At the very least," he continued after a long pause. "…it means that whatever world they're from, whatever culture they have, their professions are likely very similar, and perhaps even identical to that of the Kinkou Order. "

"…Would that make them more or less likely to accept our proposal?"

The man _hrmm-_ed quietly to himself. "I can't say. It may be that they find similarities here that will make them comfortable enough to agree, or it could be that those similarities are superficial and I'm just reading too much into it."

The woman let out a breathy sigh and nodded. "Either way, thank you for your time. I'll be sending a message to the League tonight announcing our arrival tomorrow."

The man nodded and watched her leave. Quietly, he shuffled over to one of the few windows in the room and looked outside at one of the Zen gardens below. On one side, Kennen and the stoic boy were heading to the library. On the other the more jovial boy was being led by Akali to the practice fields.

As he observed them, he couldn't help but wonder, as one always did about extraterrestrial/ inter-dimensional beings… What secrets did they hold? What power did they wield? By what laws did they abide by, moral or legal? And of all questions, he couldn't help but wonder this one; why did they both reek of such terrible malice?

* * *

So far, the Naruto boy had been quiet, allowing her to simply lead the way to the training grounds, which was probably the only place that came to mind when she thought of how to start the tour. She couldn't deny the uneasy feeling she had; walking around so close to someone who only just recently was her hunted target and enemy without her beloved kama… It wasn't exactly the most comfortable feeling in the world.

However, now that she'd had time to examine him, both his subtle mannerisms and his physiology, she found him very curious. He seemed to be the excited, happy-go-lucky type, like Kennen but more so, yet he was clearly restraining himself; like how a hyperactive child might try to act at a funeral of someone he didn't know.

It was like he deemed the situation was too dismal to act the way he normally would. That was a type of empathy that she wouldn't expect from a "bad guy," and it made her even more curious about him.

"Hey, Akali-san…"

His voice jolted her from her thoughts. Without stopping, she turned towards him. He rubbed his neck bashfully.

"Sorry about the fight earlier. I probably shouldn't have run when I sensed you coming." He laughed forcefully. "Probably could've avoided the whole mess if I'd just come quietly, right?"

_'How strange…'_ He was trying to be nice, funny, and apologetic all at once. Akali had grown up from birth to be strong and obedient. Don't question orders. Don't slack off. Protect the Balance. Etc. But even so, she hadn't been taught to be a merciless assassin. She'd developed a calm, quiet personality as she grew within the Kinkou Order, even going so far as to volunteer as a nurse at the Institute of War.

She wasn't exactly the most personable type, but she could read emotions and behavioral tics in a person. What she could read in this boy showed that he was a very empathetic person, able to feel the weight of the emotions of those around him. Comparing the boy she saw now with the cold fighter she'd battled a day earlier, it was like night and day.

"It's only natural to run from danger. If you hadn't run, you'd either have to be very confident, or very dumb," she assuaged understandingly. "Though it would have been nice if you hadn't."

The boy chuckled quietly, rubbing the back of his neck. They continued on without interruption, the crunch of gravel or the rustling of grass beneath their feet the only sounds to be heard other than their breathing. Presently they came to the practice field, or at least, the one she frequented the most.

It was a simple verdant field of grass with a dozen training posts scattered around at random intervals, and included barbed wire fences and trappings. Numerous scratches and cuts in the wood, along with the occasional stain of blood on metal wire was only a small telltale sign of how much time and energy she'd devoted to practicing when she was younger, and even now, when she had the chance.

"Wow… nostalgic."

She looked at him curiously. "Familiar?"

He nodded. "Well, yeah, kinda. I mean, we didn't have barbed-wire fencing, but we did have the occasional training post. Konoha's training program focused on nurturing our growth rather than forcing it out of us, so I doubt we were as extreme as this place is, if this spot is any indication…"

"Konoha? Is that where you come from?" she asked, guessing the foreign word to be a name.

"Yeah, Konohagakure, the largest and strongest of the Five Shinobi Nations." He rambled it off as if it were a habit. Glancing to the side, he noticed she had a slightly confused face and he chuckled. "Right… you've got no idea what I'm talking about. I guess I should explain a little about my home too. Ah, but where to begin?"

He looked to the blue sky thoughtfully before several moments before speaking again. "I guess it all started couple hundred years ago. The world was filled with warring Shinobi clans, but two of them, the Senju and the Uchiha, both being the strongest and most influential of the clans, put aside their grudges and formed Konoha, the first Shinobi village. Eventually the other countries followed suite, resulting in each nation having its personal Shinobi village. Kaze no Kuni had Sunagakure, Tsuchi no Kuni had Iwagakure, Hi no Kuni had Konohagakure, Mizu no Kuni had Kirigakure, and Kaminari no Kuni had Kumogakure."

His tone became more disgusted at the end of his list, almost spitting the final name out. But even with his explanation, Akali was completely lost. All those words were foreign to her. She quickly felt around in her pocket, finding the small red gem inside of it still pulsing with energy. _'The translation runes stone is still working… why isn't it translating?'_

The Ionians had their own language, but most of them spoke the common universal language everyone else in Runeterra did. This was done through translation rune stones. Some Ionians preferred to speak their own language over basic, and consequently used the stones more often. Akali was one of them. Though she wondered what would happen if she turned off her rune. What language did he speak? The only problem with always having translation stones was that you couldn't tell when anyone was actually speaking another language, since the artifact would automatically translate it into a language the owner understood.

But she didn't want to miss anything he said, so she left it on. She could always ask him later.

"You said that one of the… Shinobi," It was a strange word, "clans was the Uchiha. Is that the same clan as your friend?"

Naruto smirked. "One in the same. Sasuke's ancestor, Uchiha Madara vied for power by challenging Senju Hashirama for the title of Hokage, the leader of our village. When he failed, he left the village. There's a lot of backstory as to why he left, but Sasuke won't share it with me. All he says is 'you'd understand if it were you,' or something like that. Oh well, everyone's got their secrets."

"So, who is your leader now?"

Naruto smiled sadly. "A guy named Himura Danzo. See, our village was attacked a while back, Tsunade, who was the Hokage at the time, helped fend off the attack. Unfortunately it left her in a coma. Until she wakes up, Danzo is Hokage."

He paused, as if deliberating whether he should continue or not. Eventually he shrugged and went on. "See, me and Danzo go way back though. In our village we have a group of elite Shinobi called ANBU. Basically assassins and bodyguards under the direct command of the Hokage. Danzo, a warhorse of the Third Hokage's day had built his own ANBU force called ROOT. When I was young, I was inducted into them along with Sasuke."

He smiled at those old memories. "Sure it was different than what normal Shinobi would have done, but I don't regret it. Normally, ROOT training requires harsh exercises that force you to suppress your emotions. But Danzo could never get me to do it. No matter what happened, my emotions were always there. Eventually he just gave up on trying to get them out of me and focused on actual training."

"What about your friend Sasuke? Did it work for him?"

She was surprised when Naruto openly laughed. "He didn't need it. Sasuke was already emotionless when he joined ROOT. See, Sasuke's brother killed the entire Uchiha clan in cold blood, leaving only Sasuke. He hasn't been able to escape that past…" he trailed off, his voice growing sad.

"Over time, he grew a personality, but by the time he did, he was past the age for emotion training. As long as he was loyal to ROOT, Danzo let him be. It was also important because he needed Sasuke to keep me in check. See, I've got this… problem. And whenever this 'problem' gets out of hand, Sasuke has to stop me. Aside from Danzo, Sasuke is the only person who can."

She hesitated to ask what his "problem" was, but she did wonder why Sasuke was the only other one. "Is it because of your friendship?"

Naruto shook his head. "Not at all. Our friendship came later. Rather, it's a specific ability he has, the ability afforded to him by the blood of his family. We call them Kekkei Genkai, special abilities that run in the blood of a family line."

"I see," she said at last. "You keep saying "Shinobi," but I don't know what that is. Can you explain?"

Naruto _hrmm_-ed aloud and paused. "If I had to compare it to something, as far as I've seen, Shinobi are the same as the people here. What'd you call yourselves? Shadow Warriors?"

She nodded her head affirmably.

"Well, from what I can tell, they're pretty much the same, I think."

Akali paused and thought over all the information she'd heard. Several questions came to mind, and even as she thought of those questions, even more questions about those questions popped up. But she couldn't help but notice the feeling that while he was so different, and clearly form another world, it all sounded distantly familiar. She tried pinpointing the origin of the feeling, but came up with nothing. _'I'll have to meditate on it later.'_ She looked at the boy and continued with her questioning.

"This Danzo person sounds like a very uptight fellow; very strict sounding."

Naruto nodded. "He can be. In all honesty, if he knew I'd blabbed about him as much as I have today, I'd be in trouble for sure!"

"Blabbed? From what you've told me, everything you've said sounds as if it would common knowledge. You don't need to feel obligated to tell me any secrets."

He waved her off idly. "Most of ROOT is sealed with a special mark that keeps them from disclosing any information about ROOT or Danzo himself. Neither me nor Sasuke were given it, so we can talk all we want. I'm just taking advantage of it. Though, in all honesty, I don't get the feeling we'll be returning home anytime soon."

Akali cocked her head at him curiously, a small grin invisible beneath her mask. "And what brought you to that conclusion?"

He shrugged again, this time with a blank face. "A feeling. And unfortunately my feelings are usually right."

Neither of them spoke, and neither of them really noticed they'd moved from the training field and were now aimlessly strolling about the outer walls of the Order. When Akali realized they'd traveled halfway around the facility, she quickly thought of some place the boy would probably like to see.

"Say, Naruto, would you like to meet some of our other members? They're young and aren't full-fledged Shadow Warriors yet, but perhaps you will feel more comfortable around people of a similar creed."

Naruto blinked at her before smiling brightly. "I'd like that very much, Akali-san. Thanks!"

Something about his smile was infectious, and she couldn't stop a grin from forming beneath her mask. She deviated from their orbiting walk and began leading him through a maze of hedges and meditation gardens to another training field, one where Order fledglings would practice and train.

It was several minutes before the familiar ruckus of training graced their ears. Presently they turned a corner and were able to see the several dozen fighters working in the massive training field. Some were sparring, others were doing terrain training, and even some were balancing on narrow crisscrossing beams of wood while fighting with bow-staffs. There was a shaded area where some were reading books beneath a large tree; some of the students having chosen to take to the higher points of the tree's branches for privacy. A small workout station was planted beneath a clear canopy, doing nothing to shield those beneath it from the sun, but rather only there to keep the equipment from getting wet were it to rain.

Naruto took a deep breath, inhaling the pungent scent of sweat, blood and determination. "Just like the Academy…" he mumbled quietly to himself.

"They will be excited to meet you. Even if you don't accept our offer and become a Champion, it isn't often one meets someone from another world."

Naruto shifted slightly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Ehh… I'm not one for that kind of thing. Err, I guess I should say I'm still not used to it…"

She looked at him inquiringly. "So you're famous where you're from?" she asked, catching his trailing words.

He looked away and muttered lowly. "Erm, well…"

He was broken from his thoughts as there was groaning yell from across the field. Standing on his tiptoes, as if it would give him a significant height advantage. When he saw what was causing the noise, he shook his head wearily. "C'mon Akali-san, we'd better get over there fast or we'll miss the action."

Without warning, Akali felt one of his strong hands grab the wrist of her own and suddenly found herself being dragged across the training field at high speeds. She felt a blush pink her face at the unexpected action, though by the time they stopped she'd composed herself. Pulling herself free of his grip, she rubbed her wrist and gave him a look, but he wasn't looking at her. Following his gaze, she found herself standing beside a mass of bodies littering the ground, each one groaning in pain and rubbing their wounded limbs.

In the center stood Sasuke, looking this way and that for any more challengers.

"Come on, I was going easy on you too."

One of the students at Akali's feet groaned and sat back on his knees, rubbing his ribs tenderly. "Geez, he's unstoppable…!"

Naruto smirked. "Well, that's Sasuke for you. You guys'd be lucky to even touch him."

Akali frowned and stepped forward, picking her way through the mass of injured students up to Sasuke. "What do you think you're doing?" she asked harshly once she'd gotten close enough, Naruto in tow, occasionally uttering an apology to someone he stepped on.

The Uchiha looked at her with his onyx eyes blankly. "You're friend wanted me to give some tips to the younger ones," he said, gesturing to Kennen nearby, who'd been hidden behind Sasuke's form from the Fist of Shadow's perspective.

Ironically, the little Yordle was practically bouncing with excitement. "It was so cool! Akali, he's totally strong!" Small sparks of light zipped from his fur unconsciously.

Akali felt most of her indignation fall away, seeing as it had been Kennen's idea in the first place. She repressed a sigh, though with effort. "I don't think Master meant this when he told us to give them a tour."

Kennen chuckled bashfully. "Hehe, well, I might have gotten a bit overzealous I guess."

Sasuke closed his eyes and turned toward her with a small smirk. "Hmh, don't blame him too much. It's understandable that he'd want to see my abilities. Though, if you wanted to see more than just my taijutsu, you should probably have fought me yourself."

Neither Warrior knew was "taijutsu" was, but they both assumed it was the name of his fighting style. Taking his worlds as an invitation, Kennen made a mental note to take advantage of it later when it was more appropriate.

"Regardless of that, what did we all learn today?" he said, raising his voice to the injured around him.

"Learn your own blind spots," they moaned out as one, even as they began to recover from the one-sided beating he'd given them.

He nodded satisfactorily. "Good." His gaze shifted to the coloring sky.

"I think we should head inside; it's getting late."

The other three looked to the sky and nodded in agreement. They'd _all_ seen enough for one day.

* * *

**That Night**

The moon was lovely, sitting there all pretty in the midnight sky. Its full circle of pale reflected light shown down on him as he sat on the tiled roof. Insomnia wasn't a common problem for him, but neither was it unexpected. He stared up at the celestial object, basking in its cool glow.

There was a shuffling of steps behind him, followed by a familiar voice. "I thought I'd find you up here."

Sasuke approached and sat down next to him, leaning his hands on his knees as he joined his comrade in moon-gazing.

Naruto sighed and rested his chin on his folded hands. "Can't sleep."

"You've been doing that a lot more recently. How come?"

He shrugged. "Dunno. Just happens I guess. I didn't have ramen for dinner, so that might be why."

Sauske snorted and shook his head. "Pfft, yeah, right. The sad part is I can see that actually being the problem."

Naruto rolled his eyes, only briefly taking them away from the moon above.

Sasuke eyed him knowingly, turning back to the moon as well. "I think I know the problem," he said, not expecting Naruto to respond. "You miss her."

Naruto sighed with a sad smile, now looking down at his hands. "Is it that obvious?"

"You haven't seen her in at least a month. It's understandable; 'absence makes the heart grow fonder,' or so they say."

Now Naruto snorted. "Man, that sounded so much like Sai, it's not even funny."

The Uchiha smirked to himself before blinking, suddenly remembering something. He reached behind him and pulled out a small scroll from his equipment pouch. "That reminds me…" he held out the object to the blonde next to him. "She wanted me to give this to you."

Naruto stared at it in surprise. "When did you…?" he trailed off questioningly as he took it.

"Before we left. I was going to let you read it once we'd gotten away from the village, but then…"He too trailed off. They'd been suddenly stolen away from their world before they get too far from the village. _'I guess it goes without saying our mission is on hold,'_ he thought to himself.

The sound of unraveling paper signified Naruto opening the parchment. Immediately he smiled as he the scent of sweet lavender wafted to his nostrils. Then his eyes went over the words, his expression switching between sadness and endearment. After several minutes, he finally rolled it back up and placed it in his own pouch. "Hehe…"

Sasuke sent a questioning glance to his partner, but didn't receive a reply. Instead, he simply looked back at the moon, his gaze now taking on a much more pleasant appearance. If Sasuke could put into words, he'd say the blonde was love struck. _'Well, that's not exactly news…'_

He and Naruto had been friends for a long time now, and Naruto trusted him with his secrets; secrets he couldn't trust with anyone else, but secrets he just _had_ to tell _someone_ about. For several months now since Pain's invasion, Naruto had been secretly seeing the daughter of the Hyuuga's current head. For reasons that were obvious, they couldn't make their relationship public. However, while Sasuke had no doubt Danzo would disapprove of the relationship, the two of them could probably spin it off as being in their favor to have "the daughter of Konoha's 'most prestigious' clan under their thumb." Sure Danzo would see right through it as being a lie so Naruto could date her, but he wouldn't be able to deny the advantage it had. Besides, Naruto was his key soldier; someone he couldn't lose no matter what. He'd make sure Naruto stayed happy no matter what, just to keep him in ROOT.

Sasuke stayed in ROOT since he saw it as the most efficient way to find and confront his brother, and Danzo needed him in it to help contain the Kyuubi whenever it got out of hand. Sasuke, being an Uchiha, was the perfect compatriot to Naruto.

Actually, in hindsight, Danzo probably already knew, or at least suspected the Jinchuuriki's relationship with the girl. Apparently, she'd just up and proclaimed her love for him during Pain's invasion, which was probably the most awkward event to do so in, but it had apparently worked. Naruto wasn't a good liar; he'd probably made it obvious that he was leaving _something_ out in his report to Danzo after the invasion, and Danzo had probably let him go, deciding to find out himself what he was hiding.

If Sasuke knew Danzo (and he had his character down to a "T"), the old man would do everything in his power to make sure she was safe while Naruto was gone, if only to maintain his hold over the blonde. Not that he probably wanted to, but he didn't really have a choice; as long as Naruto had a reason to stay, he'd stay. Hinata's safety was a _big_ reason to stay in ROOT, especially after how far Sasuke had seen their relationship progress within the past few months.

_'They hit it off like _that,_'_ he thought to himself. _'The more they talked, the closer they got. I swear they're soul mates or something.'_ He acknowledged the fact that there were simply those kind of people in the world who were perfect for each other, and Naruto and his girlfriend, Hinata was her name, were prime examples of it.

"You know Sasuke…" Naruto began, disturbing Sasuke from his thoughts. "…as long as I'm in ROOT, we could never have a real life together. We'd never be able to get married, have kids, live together…"

Sasuke looked at him curiously. "You make it sound like it would even get to that point."

Naruto shot him a look that clearly said he didn't plan on anything other than that happening. Sasuke quickly realized he was serious.

"…What about her?" he asked after a few tense seconds.

The blonde pulled the scroll back out and held it up. "You didn't read this, did you?"

The Uchiha shook his head. It wasn't his business.

Naruto held it out, offering him to take it. He did so, warily, and opened it, skimming through the words. Once he was done, he lowered it, staring at nothing in particular. "I see," he said at last. "So you're both serious."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah. I want to marry her, and soon. But now I'm stuck here, and I don't know if we can even get back."

Ah, there was the truth. He was already homesick, and he was worried, not for himself only, but for her as well.

"Logic says if they can pull us here, they can send us back," Sasuke said simply. "If not, we can always ask if they can pull _her here._"

Naruto shook his head. "You heard what they said. Summoning from other worlds is illegal."

"No, _unauthorized_ summoning from other worlds is illegal. If they say it's ok, then it's ok."

Naruto looked at his friend skeptically, but knew he was right. Leave it to Sasuke to use his logos to get his way. At last, Naruto sighed in defeat, allowing a brief smile to grace his face. "I guess you're right…" He looked back to the moon, now much higher above them.

"…You know why I like looking at the moon?" he asked without looking away. Sasuke didn't answer, so he continued. "It reminds me of her."

The Uchiha thought about it for a moment before smiling and nodded. "I see… Is that so?"

He too looked at the moon, and admitted, it explained a lot. If he had a more poetic mind, he might have seen it earlier; the pale white light of the full moon. It was her _eyes_. Her pure, round, white orbs. He'd only met her himself a few times, and only in passing, but he, just as Naruto probably had before him, couldn't help but notice those captivating eyes of hers.

He made a sound in the back of his throat. "We'll find a way Naruto. We always do."

Naruto gave a nod, trusting his friend to be right.

Neither noticed the eavesdropper hiding on the roof behind them, but before they even had the chance to, she was gone.

* * *

**The Next Morning**

Akali knew it probably wasn't the best time to do so, but she found herself contemplating what she'd heard last night. In all honesty she hadn't meant to spy on them; they weren't in their rooms, so she had to make sure they weren't getting into any trouble. She hadn't expected to hear them talking about things as personal as the Uzumaki's love life. Having lived at the Order her whole life, she hadn't exactly been exposed to love, what with the intense training and rigorous exercises. Not to mention there weren't any boys in particular who caught her eye. That wasn't to say the Kinkou Order discouraged finding love, as many might believe. The Order centered around perfect balance, and it was their belief that the balance to hate was love. They weren't emotionless keepers of justice or whatever the public might think.

However, such concepts and ideas were far from her mind, and consequently, she hadn't felt the least bit comfortable when listening in on the two boys last night. It was awkward, different. _'Foreign.'_ That word fit them _so_ well it seemed. If she was forced to admit it, they were both handsome, and they were probably the only boys of her age she knew that she could actually say that about. Chronologically, Ezreal was the youngest boy in the League, maybe a year younger than herself, but she'd never considered him handsome.

He was always more of an…. annoyance. _'Always blinking away…!'_ She'd gotten to loath that ability of his, and _him_ by origin.

But these two… they were different. The Uchiha was cold, calculating, but not unapproachable; his dark hair and eyes holding a serious, but understanding look to them. The Uzumaki was more open, emotional, and free. He didn't hold himself in like his comrade did. If she had to compare the two with a simile, Sasuke was sympathy, and Naruto was empathy.

But she didn't have time to think about that right now. They would be heading to the Institute this morning; her, Kennen, Irelia and their two guests. Normally they'd be there now, but they'd been called back to Ionia to investigate the illegal summoning that had apparently brought both "Shinobi" to Runeterra. The Captain had been there already, having been on a small vacation from the League when she heard the news. However, that time was just about up anyway when the event occurred, so they hadn't exactly interrupted her time off.

They had all been gathered together in a relatively large room, along with a dozen or so robed mages, the nature of which had to be explained to the newcomers.

"They will combine their power and transport us to the Institute. It's instant, so we won't waste time on a long journey."

Naruto and Sasuke gave each other a small glance, which the Ionian caught. "What, you didn't think we were going to ride there on horseback did you?"

They shook their heads. "Well, no. But I hadn't expected long-distance teleportation." The Uchiha looked at the room around them as the mages encircled them.

"You needn't worry. The nauseous feeling is only temporary and slight. It'll pass in a few seconds," the red armored woman said. She, like the two Shadow Warriors, were garbed in the same clothes they had worn the two days earlier. Irelia stood between them, her four sword blades latched together and locked to her back in a similar fashion to Akali's kama and Kennen's golden shuriken.

"Now, if you're all ready…"

Everyone nodded, Naruto and Sasuke doing so with slight hesitation.

"Alright, begin."

One by one the mages raised their arms, palms out towards the quintet and went to work. Magic runes slowly spread around them, covering the room in foreign symbols and runic figures. A cool bluish-purple glow filled the chamber as the mages' hands began to glimmer with the same light, small luminous spheres appearing around their palms. The gravity of power suddenly descended as circles of energy suddenly formed around them, each one spinning in the opposite direction of the one before it. Within the lines of magic were even more symbols that neither Naruto nor Sasuke could decipher. Even as their eyes traced the circles around them, the swirling tides of energy began to whir, culminating in the circles constricting around them tighter and tighter until, as one, they lifted upward.

With them, the pull of gravity and the reality of space warped, and in the next moment, they were standing in a different place all together, minus the encircling mages. Instead, they'd been replaced with a humungous atrium, with numerous grand pillars running from the ornate stone floor up to the distant ceiling. But where there should have been a roof, there was instead a cut-out around its edge, revealing the beautiful star field beyond, traced by laces of green and red energy, blended with a yellow hue and purple glow. The tendrils of light danced gently, as if swayed by an unfelt breeze somewhere above the building. Their twinkling lights shown down on the floor, reflecting off of the numerous metallic decorations around them and coating the entirety of the massive hall with speckles of multicolored light that was both strong, yet soft on the eyes.

Massive floating crystals brilliantly shown with a transparent azure glow along both sides of them, the power-filled gems sitting atop smaller, less ornate pillars that acted as stands. Along the middle of the floor was a soft, yet sturdy bright red rug, decorated along the edges with gold trim. The rug led straight from their feet and down the hall to a massive door. Between pillars, numerous large entryways and doors could be seen, no doubt branching off into side corridors and hallways to other parts of the installation.

Naruto and Sasuke both marveled at the sight, having never seen any architecture so beautiful in all their lives. Naruto could only gape. "T-this is… waaay over the top…!"

Sasuke simply stared, mouth threatening to open in wonder. The three Ionians looked at them with slight hilarity. They'd all seen the expressions of various future Champions when they'd first stepped into the gran hall of the Insitute of War. And each time, they never failed to amuse.

Kennen shrugged his little shoulders. "I don't even remember what my first day was like. It was all a blur."

Irelia snickered and stepped forward, down the stairs of the small platform they'd been summoned to, with the Warriors following suit. Both Shinobi were broken from their trance at their movement, and they did their best to compose themselves. Giving quick, subtle glances at each other, they followed in in descent.

The hall was filled with people, each of them sparing passing glances at the three Ionians, but lingering in surprise at the two Shinobi. Without any sort of sense of propriety, they simply stared at them, as if they were seeing some sort of spectacle.

Neither felt particularly comfortable with how they looked at them like pieces of art. They'd become used to the looks from the villagers, be them kind, fearful, or distasteful, but this… this was different.

"We already told them you would be coming with us," Irelia said, noticing their slightly perturbed looks. "The whole institute probably knows you're here by now."

Naruto grumbled under his breath. "Wonderful…"

The woman laughed lightly and gestured them to follow. "Here at the Institute, there are a multitude of things to do should you get bored, including, but not limited to, alchemy, magic training, physical combat practice, meditation, you can read at the library (and I might add that you will _never_ run out of books to read), or even trying your hands at socializing." She looked back to them with a humorous smirk, which she noticed irked the blonde, to her amusement. The other boy said nothing.

"But what we primarily do here is what you've probably been wanting to see," she said as they continued their way through the large corridor. All around them, large and ornate objects hung from fastenings on the walls and edges of the open ceiling.

"If the report I read this morning is correct, then there should be a match going on right now. If you'd like, we can go to the observation spire and watch."

The three stopped walking and looked back at the two. Naruto nodded. "Sure. Lead the way."

It took a few minutes, but at last they made it to a relatively plain looking door, which Akali opened for them. As soon as all of them were in, it shut behind them, and a sudden, though vague sense of vertigo registered in their inner ears as the floor (unknowingly to them) lifted like an elevator. The darkness in the room gave way to light as it rose to the top of a large tower. Instead of walls, there were numerous open, arched, windowless openings. In front of them, lavish seating placements were arranged.

Clearly this room was only available for the wealthy.

Outside was a large expanse of territory, rocky terrain and grassy plains. Glowing structures in the distance were barely noticeable.

"This is one of many observation facilities in the Institute. The windows are special, allowing anyone who looks through them to use them like remote eyes, able to look at any part of the battle field at any given time," Akali explained as she stepped up to one, commanding it to examine the arena. Both Shinobi blinked as the peaceful scenery warped, and they zoomed in on a figure running on a dirt path. The figure was bulky, with equally large armor on his shoulders and waist. In one hand was a large broadsword that didn't look to be hindering him in the least.

"Oh, we came at just the right time. Its mid-match by now," Irelia commented as she looked over to a timer attached to the wall to their right. Currently it read "20:43" and continued to ascend.

"Who is that?" Sasuke said, gesturing to the man they were observing.

"Garen Crownguard, personal guardian of Prince Jarvan IV of Demacia. He was one of the first to become Champions of the League."

Behind him, a team of small, robed creatures followed obediently. "And those are the minions you were talking about?" Naruto asked, remembering having heard it in their discussions earlier that morning.

"Correct. They are controlled by novice Summoners, sort of as practice for the real deal."

Sasuke silently looked around the room. Beside the clock was a glowing scoreboard, reading numerous stats regarding the match, such as the progression of Summoner-Champion syncing, the kills per team, and the gold earned for each Champion. "Explain to me again why there is an included currency," Sasuke said after several seconds, genuinely curious as to why a gladiatorial game would feature a method of reward _during_ the matches.

"Each Summoner platform has a shop where you can buy items," Akali explained. "The nature and power of these items are imbued into you, enhancing your powers as you see fit. Naturally it would be difficult to carry all the items themselves, so transferring their augmentative abilities was the better alternative."

It was then Sasuke noticed another board, this own showing small icons of objects that apparently each Champion had in their possession.

"Huh… cool, I guess," Naruto murmured, not sure what to think of it.

There was a resulting silence that flowed throughout the room as Naruto and Sasuke both stood, rather awkwardly, taking in their surroundings. Finally, there was a dainty throat-clearing and the armored woman gestured to some plush seating in front of the magically controlled windows. "Please, have a seat. The match can last anywhere from twenty minutes to well over an hour."

Begrudgingly, they accepted her offer, plopping down on one of the three couches. There, they settled in to watch the match, letting their eyes wander about the magic viewing device. There were several windows, and though each one combined to make one massive screen, it was also possible for them to show a different image to each person individually, and simultaneously. The two Shinobi subsequently found this out when they commented on two different events at the same time.

It lasted an hour.

* * *

The end came with a thunderous explosion resulting from the destruction of the blue nexus crystal. With it came the quiet groaning as the spectators stood up and stretched their muscles. Though the three Ionians opted to remain seated, the two Shinobi were the ones who stood.

"So, what did you think?" Irelia asked, wondering, with admittedly a bit more enthusiasm than she intended, how the two would consider the League, having now seen it firsthand.

Naruto shrugged noncommittally. "Well, I'm game, as long as Sasuke is. Seems like a great way to hone our skills and keep 'em sharp while we're here. I'm all for it. What do you think, Sasuke?"

The blonde looked over to his partner curiously. He liked it here well enough, though there was definitely the culture shock he'd have to get over, but aside from that, he had no direct, nor immediate qualms with staying. And as far as manners went, it wouldn't hurt to repay the country who'd found and introduced them to their new surroundings.

The Uchiha was contemplatively silent for several seconds, internally pondering his own decision. As far as dangers went, the Ionians had explained well enough that fighting between Champions could only be done on the Fields of Justice, the fancy name for the battle arena they'd just observed. So there was likely very little danger to them if they accepted. On the other hand, they would be linked directly to Ionia as a sort of representative for the nation in the games. In all honestly, he also, like Naruto, felt interested in what the League had to offer. _'What the hell; why not?'_

He smirked, standing up to stand by his partner, halfway turning to the three warriors beside him. "Fine then. We'll give it a go."

In an instant, all three of the Ionians expressions changed from apprehensively nervous to those of pleased joy. Irelia looked very glad, and relieved to hear it, as her shoulders relaxed slightly at his words. Kennen, well, it was difficult to gauge his expressions from beneath his mask, but the way he hoped off the couch and jumped up and down excitedly (small sparks of energy zapping from him in the process) spoke well enough to his emotion. Akali was probably the mildest of them; she neither excitedly celebrated, nor sagged in relief. If anything, she seemed pleased, but not entirely assured that this was a good thing. In reality, she was probably just uncertain of the choice to allow them to join as agents of Ionia.

Regardless, Sasuke smiled, despite himself. _'Institute of War… League of Legends… Not bad names at all. We'll see how this goes.'_

* * *

**A/N: And there's chapter one! I hope you liked it, since I'll probably update it every once in a while. Honestly, there aren't many serious Naruto/LoL crossovers out there, and I hope this one becomes one of the best! That said, how did I do? Tell me what you liked, what you didn't, and don't be afraid to tell me what you'd like to see! If there's one thing I've learned, there's nothing like posting a review to get your own creative juices flowing. If I hadn't begun posting reviews of my first favorite stories, I'd never have gotten the drive to start writing myself!**

**Also, some of you might be wondering why this story is rated T when all my other stories are M. I'm actually trying T out to see if I get more viewers than I would if it was M. Granted, I chose a very sparsely searched crossover combination, but regardless, it WILL eventually become M, if only for safety's sake. But for now, it's T.**

**Untill the next time!**


	2. Chapter 2: Narrow Encounter

**A/N: Well, here's chapter two! Yeah it took me a while, but classes are killing me. Deal with it. **

**My thanks go to **Phr33k, alchemist19, Valorous Wings, Ookami88, TheBlackBlade, Chewie Cookies, wingofpain, LordofVermillion, Honest Lunar Raven, BlazaWolf, Arhra, panda-kun77, Thoketan-XER298-RedRover, Naruto a Champion Nice **(an anon in case you were thinking the name was odd)**, Rodneysao, DelVaro, RamenKnight, NoGutsNoGlory, Peshomaro, Maelstrom of the Tricky Wind, Khazad, Posidem, Ryden Purrson, green eyed typhoon, **and** Ttran2323** for their taking time to review my humble story :3**

**Oh and **Panda-kun, **I'm still expecting a picture at some point ;) Maybe in a few chapters. Still not a lot of content I know.**

**On that note, if anyone else wants to try to draw a cover picture or two for this story, I'd greatly appreciate it! **

**NOTE: to read my long winded rage about how FF is going down the tubes, please refer to the preface of Chapter 15 for Konoha's Silver Shinobi. There's a lot to be said, and my major announcements are there, since it is my main story after all.**

* * *

**Other World, Chapter Two:  
Narrow Encounter**

Rastor Runemancer eyed the men and women before him carefully. It wasn't that the meeting was _all_ that serious, though it kind of was too. He'd had this kind of discussion many times. The smooth alabaster table was large enough to seat at least two dozen people around its perimeter, though at the moment, it was only home to half that many. There were few times he felt the weight of his position as vividly as he did now, but whenever he did, it would almost never be an easy week. Around him sat the Council, the ultimate decision-making assemblage in the Institute of War. Thirteen total, including himself, they were the deciding factor for all things regarding Champions, Summoners, and the mediating policies of Valoran itself.

In all his time as acting Head Councilman, he'd always felt sort of sorry for the small nation of Ionia; a lesser country of no remarkable military presence or power. Compared to Demacia and Noxus, its capabilities were utterly dwarfed. However, he'd been pleased when the tiny state managed to gain powerful Champions to fight for it in the games. However, it seemed the petty nation had figuratively dug up a gold mine of potential in the form of Irelia, Master Yi, Lee Sin, Akali, Shen, Kennen, Wukong, Ahri, and even Varus. It seemed there was no end to the powerful people who were so willing to stand under Ionia's banner.

And here he was speaking with the crimson armored captain of the Ionian Guard. She stood at the foot of the table, with him at the head, and the numerous other dozen individuals of the Council splayed out on either side. Behind her and to her side was the viridian clad Akali, her kama noticeably absent in their presence. Both looked at him expectantly, having finished with their proposition not seconds ago.

He fingered his forehead tenderly, knowing he was going to have a headache soon if he didn't deal with this apparently growing problem. But the issue of illegal summoning would have to be hashed out afterword. He carefully folded his hands and leaned his elbows on the table.

"Just so I know I'm understanding you correctly, you've found two new individuals who are reportedly from the same realm as Sasori…" he inclined his head for confirmation, which she obliged.

"Correct."

"…and that they wish to join the League on behalf of Ionia?"

"Yes."

He nodded his head with every affirmation; he'd heard her right the first time. "I see. Then they must go through the trials, just as all the others have. Are they prepared for such an encounter?"

Irelia's gaze averted for only a moment before refocusing. "Forgive me… I failed to mention that to them."

Rastor nodded his head understandingly. "Are they here right now?"

The woman nodded. "They're just outside this room as we speak. Would you like to meet them?"

The powerful Summoner breathed uncharacteristically deep, and silently deliberated the idea, his folded hands' index fingers tapping the tip of his lips. Eventually he lowered them and shook his head. "No, no I think it best that we save that for the judgment. Knowing what we do from Sasori, I don't think a preliminary meeting is necessary."

The other council members nodded their heads in agreement.

"That said, if they're ready for their judgments, we can begin preparation immediately."

Irelia hesitated for a moment. "Now? But neither is aware of-…"

She was cut off from the raised hand of the violet robbed man beside Rastor. He, like Rastor, was universally known as Trazzix Lusterslew, one of the three founding mages of the Institute of War and the League of Legends, the third member of that group being Damien Perishmore who sat opposite of Trazzix.

"-We are well aware that they are _un_aware. However, you may inform them yourself while we prepare for the judgment. Agreed?"

Irelia nodded shakily. She clearly hadn't expected them to go to judgment so quickly. "Very well then… if you'll excuse us." She turned and left the chamber, the shadow warrior following right after.

As soon as the door had shut behind them, the council stood, and with a wave of a hand, the table and chairs split and folded away, leaving the chamber open for the judgment. The council shuffled to the outer edges of the room, where they would watch and maintain the notorious illusions that would be the judgment's setting. Rastor nodded to them and prepared the magic. As soon as the door opened, the field would be set.

It was only a short minute before both heavy doors opened; the first of their victims.

* * *

Sasuke strode in quietly, eyeing the darkened room warily. He ignored the latching of the two doors behind him as he continued to the center of the room. He could see no one anywhere, and he assumed it was part of the illusion. He'd only been briefly informed of what he would face inside by the Ionian captain before he entered. He had a feeling he already knew what he would face inside.

A flash of movement to his side drew his gaze. What he saw made him double-take. It was a young child that he vaguely remembered seeing at some point in the academy. The boy skipped along the bustling road of Konoha toward the institution, the lively populated streets offering only a slight hindrance. He followed after him, smiling at the image of the academy that eventually came into view. Upon entering, he shadowed him to his designated classroom. He wasn't surprised that it was Iruka speaking at the head of the class.

He smirked and sat down in the vacant seat he'd always occupied for the class. Immediately he felt bored, and he almost laughed at the nostalgia that hit him. He quietly folded his hands below his chin and closed his eyes, letting the instructor's voice dim to a low drone in his ears. It was eerily relaxing.

"…Sasuke! You're the smart one; what's the best jutsu to use when distracting opponents?"

Sasuke blinked as he was called out, but smirked and grunted the simple answer. "Bunshin."

Iruka smiled and nodded. "Correct! That's exact-… NARUTO! PAY ATTENTION!"

Sasuke winced as he heard the scarred man yell at the obnoxious blonde boy in the back. In a way, he felt almost sorry for him. The boy made a retort, but he'd already tuned them all out. He'd already studied this lesson the night before with his mother. He closed his eyes and let his mind wander, drifting ever nearer to the land of light slumber.

He was woken by the chill air of night. His eyes shot open, standing in front of the empty street illuminated by nothing by the bright, full moon above. It wasn't uncommon to see the street empty, but there was just _something_ about it that screamed "wrong" to him. His eyes flitted left and right, but saw nothing out of the ordinary, so he passed it off as a particularly chilling breeze on a cool summer night. He continued on, feeling himself grow excited as he neared his house, knowing he'd be able to show the new shuriken technique to his family. He imagined his father and brother's proud smile while his mother's face would light up with glee at her son's success.

The though filled him with such warm thoughts, he almost missed the still, shadowed form of…_something _on the street. He eyed it curiously before approaching. As soon as he was able to see it clearly, he froze. At first he'd thought it some large animal, like a dog or something, but now he saw its form was that of a human. His eyes went wide as he then saw the crimson stain of blood pooling beneath it.

He immediately backed away in fear, and then turned his gaze fearfully to the street around him. But where he'd been looking for a threat, what he found was only more dead bodies, piled on top of each other and sprawled about everywhere, their corpses left to lie unceremoniously where they'd breathed their last. He felt an eerie sense of déjà vu. He knew this scene very well.

With growing fear, he closed his eyes and shook his head violently, running down the street to where his home was. He didn't look at the bodies of the dead as he passed them. If he got home, mother and father would know what to do!

He barged through the door, rushing down the hallway to his parents room. He dashed to the door and slid it open. "Tou-san! Kaa-san!" What he saw froze him in his place.

Three figures occupied the room, one standing, the other two lifelessly sprawled across the floor. He recognized them all instantly, along with the fresh blood that flowed across the floor. "N-nii-san…! Tou-san and kaa-san are-!"

The sharp whistle of wind and sting of pain silenced him as a single shuriken grazed his arm. His eyes gazed in growing horror at his elder brother, his eyes now spotting the splashes of blood that adorned his ensemble.

"You're such a foolish, foolish little brother." The man spoke in a calm, condescending tone. His face was shadowed by the angle of the window that only allowed the moon to highlight the two corpses of their mother and father, dead on the floor

"Nii-san… why…?" Sasuke couldn't help but ask. Why all of this death? Why them? Why?

"To measure my own capacity," he explained with such simplicity that for an instant, Sasuke wondered if the man had any emotion at all.

His eyes fell on the unmoving bodies of his parents. "T-this…? Just to measure your 'capacity…?'" An anger clenched his stomach tightly.

"I wouldn't expect you to understand."

His teeth ground against each other so hard they cracked. "That… that kind of excuse…" He felt his body burn in anger, and he surged forward. "….THAT'S BULLSHIT!"

The silhouette of his brother lunged forward to meet him, a fist brought low to smash him in the gut. But the shadowed man blinked in surprise as Sasuke dodged to the side and plunged his sword through his chest. His brother's eyes were wide with surprise, and Sasuke just smirked.

"Please… As if you could truly capture me with this illusion. I'll admit everything else seemed very real, but as soon as you tried to replicate my brother, I was reminded that this was all fake." His eyes narrowed at the figure in front of him, the only visible part of him being his surprised Sharingan eyes.

He twisted the sword with spite. "I won't pretend to like my brother, but such a shoddy attempt to imitate him… it's disgusting. The real him wouldn't have let me get up."

The image of his brother blinked and stepped forward into the moonlight. His face and image was the same, but the voice that came from his lips was foreign, and the slight smiling expression he wore felt completely out of place. "I can't pretend to berate you for your animosity, after seeing this for myself. He killed your entire family in cold blood after all." He looked at the room around him as if examining an exhibit for the first time.

Sasuke scowled. "This isn't you're playground. I'd advise you to remember your place in my memories; nonexistent."

The being impersonating his oh-so-loathed brother frowned. "Why do you want to join the league, Sasuke?"

The Uchiha scowled for a moment before melting into a dark smile. "Why else? To measure my _own_ capacity."

His brother's face raised an eyebrow but remained silent, except to ask, "How does it feel, exposing your mind?"

Sasuke withdrew his sword and sheathed it, mindless of the illusionary blood that stained it. "How does it feel to be the one doing the exposing?"

The man wearing his brother's skin hesitated for a moment before answering cautiously. "In this case… Different."

Sasuke smirked silently as the recreation of his old home vanished like a smoky mist. All that was left was a darkened room. The massive doors in front of him opened with a clang, and light poured in from beyond. Without another word, Sasuke entered the League.

* * *

"Sooo…" Naruto began anxiously. "How long do these things usually last?"

Both women shrugged. "It varies per person. The judgment is merely to expose those thoughts that motive you, or might influence your decisions to most."

Naruto blinked. "Wait, so they read your mind?"

Irelia thought about it for a moment before half-nodding. "Something like that."

Naruto immediately looked worried. "Oh boy…"

Akali smiled beneath her mask. "Don't worry, any information they see they are duty-bound to keep secret, unless you voluntarily reveal it."

The blonde nervously scratched the back of his head with a smile. "Ah, well, that's good to know, but that's not what I was worried about…" he said, causing both females to look at him expectantly.

"Looking into my mind…" he began tensely. "…Let's just say it's not a good idea."

"Whys that? If you don't mind my asking that is…" said Akali.

Naruto looked at her and cocked his head. "Oh, right, you don't know…" He was about to explain when the doors in front of him opened up revealing a dark, empty room. Hesitantly glancing behind him, the women nodded reassuringly, and he stepped forward into the center of the room, ignoring the slam of the gates closing behind him.

* * *

Several minutes passed by in the atrium as both Irelia and Akali waited for the judgment to complete. Very few warriors of worthy mention were turned away, even after the judgment, and this was mostly because the Institute encouraged those of all creeds and backgrounds to join, if they felt the desire to that is. So neither woman felt particularly worried about either of the two boys passing the tests. But at the same time, they both knew that League judgments could leave a grown man shaking and scared by the end; the strength of the mind was harshly tested during judgments.

Though it was a common misconception, the Institute and the League were two different things. The Institute was the whole complex of the Institute of War, while the League of Legends was a small, more special area of the massive complex. In layman's terms, the League was like an exclusive club separate to the rest of the organization.

As soon as they were done, they'd join the other two in the League and give them a tour, and perhaps introduce them to any champions who happened to be there. But the matter of waiting was slightly unnerving. Irelia had never been concerned with these kind of proceedings before, but at the same time, she'd never had any sort of personal investment in those who took part. But two otherworldly characters joining under Ionia's flag… it was kind of a big thing.

Presently the doors opened and the dark room they'd seen before was replaced by the empty conference room it usually was. They stood as the various Summoner council members exited, inclining their heads respectfully as they passed the two Champions. Last to leave were the three master Summoners. Though both Trazzix and Damien passed by without comment, Rastor paused to speak to them, even as everyone else left the area.

"Well?" Akali asked perhaps a bit too excitedly.

Rastor's aged face and long flowing white beard shifted with his expression, which was subtly hidden by those same features. "Well, what can be expected from Other Worlders? They are both different, and their culture is so far dissimilar to our own. Not to mention their memories..." He thought back to the horrific massacre of the first boy's family by his own brother, and then to the unbearably lonely and abused past of second boy.

He shook his head. "In the end, they passed, and I'm sure that's all you're concerned with at the moment. Anything else they'll have to tell you themselves." He nodded a "good day" and walked after his fellows.

The Shadow Warrior sent a relieved smile her superior's way and Irelia sighed in response. _'Good, they made it…'_

Wasting no more time, they entered the cleared meeting room and opened the door to the League. They entered quickly and gazed upon the massive entry hall in front of them. Furnished with only the highest quality furniture and décor, the warm red rug that covered the entire floor blended with the even warmer golden hues of light that permeated the place. Up ahead a little ways stood the two Shinobi, quietly looking around at the empty hall. With hurried steps they strode over to them, their murmured whisperings to each other ceasing at their Ionians' approach.

"I understand congratulations are in order for both you," Irelia began with a smile. "You're both now officially Champions of the League."

Sasuke made no expression as he shrugged his shoulders indifferently as Naruto, in contrast, smiled and scratched the back of his head, a nervous habit that both women were beginning to notice. The blonde cleared his throat quietly and looked around. "So, speaking of Champions, where are the others? Didn't you say there were like ninety-something others?"

Irelia nodded. "Ninety-five, and they're around. Your entrance to the League was unscheduled and unannounced, so no one knew to come to welcome you. Some of them take breaks every so often and return to their homelands during those periods. The rest live here at the Institute, but no one really loiters in this part of it. They can be found in the common rooms, libraries, training fields, and recreation areas. Every once in a while, you'll see a group of Summoners here and there, but they mainly stay out of your way."

The blonde nodded understandingly and glanced around awkwardly. Sasuke suddenly stiffened and glanced around quickly.

"The girl's gone," he stated quickly, almost as if it were a warning to his partner.

"She's probably just announcing your arrival to the others," Irelia explained quickly, trying to placate them. "And as far as safety goes, any combat between Champions outside of the Fields is strictly prohibited. The last time anyone ever broke that rule was several months ago when Malzahar and Kassadin were at each other's throats, and that's only due to their deep rooted animosity for one another. Normally Champions leave their grudges behind on the battlefield."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her. "Normally?"

Irelia shrugged her shoulders. "Well, things do happen, and the Institute does its best to prevent them."

Sasuke huffed and turned his head a way, but smirked. "Well that's no fun."

* * *

Due to the massive size of the League, it wasn't a common occurrence to see more than ten champions in the same spot at any given time. The sole exclusions to that were the Fields and the Courtyard. The Courtyard, or sometimes referred to simply as the "Court," was a simple, but special place where Champions could wander, talk, laze, and relax in. Tough, marble-like ceramic structures, benches and tables marked the low-hedged fields around them, and in the center was a massive stone fountain that could be seen from any part of the Court. Around it sat a dozen tables, with three times that many chairs for each one.

Demacian and Noxian alike would gather here to commune, quarrel, and unwind from all the aforementioned communing and quarreling. Though many Champions avoided the social hub, most were frequent visitors. The bright yellow sun shown down on the viridian plains and shrubbery, and sparkled in the shining water, sending multicolored mists this way and that.

The surroundings echoed with the soothing calm of music, the kind that every champion knew could only come from the etwahl of the resident League musician. Sona always had a place in the center of the Court where she would sit and strum, plucking the deceptively delicate strings of her instrument with her equally deceptively delicate fingers. Regardless of nationality, creed or species, there wasn't a single Champion who was unaffected in some way by her music. For that reason, it was a common thing to see many different types of Champions gather around her when she played.

On one side of the court were numerous building that made up living areas and apartments for Champions, with the windows facing the Court, and out towards the great fields, and expanse of sky. Beneath the balcony of one of these sat the Noxian blade master Talon. The shade of the balcony hid him perfectly, and most wouldn't notice him, since he rarely moved. It was a habit of his; not to move. He'd gained it during his days in the slums of Noxus, it being the natural reaction to fleeing prey or hunting predators. If you are still, then your prey will not see you, and neither will your predators. It was simple as that. Though he was never out of earshot of Sona's beautiful music.

Below him was lux, who's very presence often annoyed him. Despite his preference for shade and darkness, the fact that she found him fun to talk to, along with her natural affinity for light made it very obnoxious when she would intrude into his corner. Fortunately he was safe in crevices and ledges; the light mage didn't have the same agility he had, which was a fact he'd exploited numerous times on the battlefield. Luxanna wasn't alone though; Riven and Ashe were both with her sitting together around a small table, chatting amongst each other about this and that.

Talon just tuned them out.

Sitting on the edge of the fountain, next to Sona was the oft loved, more oft hated yordle explorer Teemo. He sat there, content to listen to the music while rocking side to side to the rhythm.

And lastly, next to the entrance of the great hedge maze stood Ahri, the half-fox, half-human woman along with the two newer additions to the League, Darius and his younger brother Draven. Ahri was known as being probably the most provocatively mannered female at the League and was quite the temptress. However, she was also extremely playful in that same regard, often teasing men with her beauty and then walking away. Which was why it was extremely humorous to see her shrug off Draven's (admittedly rather egotistical) passes at her in favor of trying to get a rise out of the pokerfaced Darius, much to the younger brother's dismay.

It was into this setting that Akali entered, having jogged ahead of her comrades to announce the arrival of the two shinobi. The women immediately noticed her arrival and Lux, ever the giddy one, immediately waved her hands and got up to meet her. "There you are Akali! I've been looking all over for you! I'd heard you were back but I couldn't find you anywhere."

"Sorry to have troubled you, but I was busy with the Council."

Lux cocked her head curiously. "The Council? What for?"

"You know how me and Kennen were called away to investigate a possible summoning in Ionia?" Akali asked.

"Yeah."

"Well, we found out that not just one was summoned, but _two. _After some discussion, we found out that they're from the same place as Sasori."

Riven blinked in surprise. "Sasori? Are you sure?"

"Fairly. What's more, the Council has agreed to allow them to become Champions. In fact, we just came back from their judgments."

At this, every head turned in at least mild interest to Akali's words. Talon above them shifted forward, now focusing on them intently. Sona continued to strum her etwahl, but it was easy to tell she was keeping her ears open to their conversation. Teemo immediately grabbed his hat and rushed over, squeezing through the females' legs, taking advantage of his size. Ahri and Darius both immediately turned and rushed over to hear, leaving a befuddled Draven in their wake.

"A judgment already? But you just left a few days ago," Ashe commented, not at all understanding the hastiness of the Council. It usually took weeks for _any_ champion to be considered, judged, and accepted. Not to mention the amount of time the League spent advertising their arrival. But then, she supposed these were special circumstances, what with the spate of illegal summonings going on lately.

"And I've never heard of them letting two people in at the same time before!" Teemo said, prompting everyone to look down at him.

Akali just shrugged. In all honesty, she was just as surprised by the Council's acceptance of their request as everyone else. "I guess we must have caught them on a good day."

"So? Where are they?" Darius asked, not having spotted anyone new after a quick glance left and right.

"They're coming, I think…" Akali turned and looked behind at the way she'd come, and as if on cue, the doors that led to out to the Court opened. Four figures emerged from them, two familiar, and two not.

Talon immediately dropped from his niche to stand on the ground wanting to see the newcomers up close and personal.

Aside Irelia and the thunder-wielding yordle, they were followed by two young men, neither dressed similarly to the other. The first man had pitch black hair that matched his obsidian eyes, and wore a mix of white, grey and purple. Sheathed behind his waist was a thin, black straight blade of some sort. His sharp, serious eyes glanced over each of them at least once. It was clear he was wary of his new surroundings, if not outright suspicious. But if he was from a different world, as Sasori was, then it was somewhat understandable.

The second man had sun-kissed hair that was accented by the orange decorated clothes he wore. His wide, azure eyes bounced in his skull, flitting from person A to person B, only to glance back at person A, as if unsure he'd seen them the first time. The one thing they both shared was that they both possessed a small, engraved metal plate; the black haired one had it tied around his purple belt, while the other had his worn around his forehead. The symbol thereon was a strange triangular spiral. None of them could make out what it might really be.

As they approached, Irelia made sure to point out each of the Champions by name, so they'd have an idea of who was who.

As soon as they got within spitting distance, Darius strode forward and extended a hand. "General Darius. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Sasuke tentatively accepted the hand, giving it a firm shake. "Sasuke Uchiha. The pleasure is mine."

Darius nodded and turned to Naruto, extending his hand similarly.

Naruto accepted it with a smile. "Uzuma-… I mean, Naruto Uzumaki. Nice to meet ya."

"And this," Darius began again, gesturing to the man beside him. "…is my little brother, Draven."

The man in question merely looked offended. "Not Draven; _Draaaaven._" He drew out the name, sliding a hand through the air dramatically.

A smirk came to Sasuke's face as he spotted the almost invisible roll of the eyes by Darius, and the sigh that followed. Naruto, on the other hand, gave a deadpan look to the obvious narcissist. "…Right… Sure thing."

Not a second after that, both teens were assaulted by the form of the bubbly young blonde woman in the crowed. "Wow, this is so exciting! I'm Luxanna Crowngaurd, but everyone just calls me Lux." She extended her hand happily, her smile almost literally radiating light.

To her surprise, both Sasuke _and_ Naruto, instead of accepting her offered hand, _bowed_ at the waist in greeting. She blushed in shock; she'd never had anyone bow to her before! _'O-Oh gosh! That's, like, totally embarrassing!'_

Naruto smiled as he rose back up. "Lux huh? Quite _illuminating_, haha!"

You didn't need to be a genius observer to notice the twitch in Sasuke's eye, but before he could reprimand his friend, he was interrupted by Draven's laughing. "Hahahaha! Illuminating! I get it! Hahaha!"

What followed was an awkward silence, during which Darius just stared at his younger brother.

"…Really?"

"What? I thought it was funny," the axe thrower shrugged in response.

Luckily Lux was still hung-over on the bowing. "Y-you guys don't really have to bow to me... It's not like I'm royalty or anything."

Naruto simply raised an eyebrow. "…Crownguard… could've fooled me."

"Regardless, it's customary in our culture to bow in greeting to our seniors," Sasuke said, giving a more reasonable explanation.

"And women," Naruto added; Sasuke conceded a nod.

Lux nervously rubbed the back of her head and shifted her hips awkwardly. "No, I mean, I'm only a protector for royalty. My family's done it for generations, that's why we were given the name Crowngaurd. My brother is a Champion too! I'm sure he'll be happy to meet you!" Lux gave a radiant, and rather relieved smile, thankful to deflect their attention. "But he's not here right now…"

She trailed off, prompting another of the women to step forward. "My name's Ashe, queen of Freljord."

Naruto flinched comically, taking a surprised step back. "Q-Queen?"

Sasuke immediately bowed again, giving his partner a look before grabbing his neck and pulling him down with him. "It's an honor to meet you your highness."

To their surprise, Ashe laughed and waved off their reverence. "Oh please, don't do that! I get enough of that at home. You're bound to meet a lot of famous people here at the League. To be honest, since you're now part of the League, that pretty much means we're equals."

"Ehh… Sasuke maybe, since he's the last of the Uchiha, and subsequently is the head of the clan, but I'd hardly consider myself equal to royalty," Naruto laughed nervously as rubbed the back of his neck, both in nervousness and in an attempt to rub away the ache from Sasuke's grip.

Ashe smiled warmly at him. "Regardless, it's Ashe from now on, ok?"

Naruto considered it for several seconds before _hmm_-ing. "I dunno. That seems a bit too formal… How about, Ashe-san?"

The frost archer blinked not understanding what "san" meant. Thankfully, seeing her confusion, Irelia interpreted for her. "It's an honorific in their language. What did you say it was? 'Miss' or 'Mrs.' right?"

Sasuke nodded. "Correct. And I wouldn't argue with him on this. Despite his looks, he's actually quite polite."

"What the fuck's that supposed to mean?" Naruto growled at his "friend."

The Uchiha smirked and turned away. "Well, most of the time anyway."

Naruto didn't have time to respond before the next woman stepped forward to introduce herself "I'm Riven, it's nice to finally some guys my own age." She quickly extended her hand, not giving them time to bow to her.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, but smirked and accepted the handshake. "A pleasure."

She turned and repeated the gesture with Naruto, but to her surprise, he gave a smile and bent down to kiss the back of her hand. "The pleasure's all mine, I promise."

She immediately blushed and withdrew her hand, holding it behind her back and bashfully retreating several steps. "T-t-that's way too formal…!"

Naruto blinked at her in surprise. "Really?"

Sasuke simply frowned and shook his head, a slight sweat-drop forming on his head. "Naruto… even though you're in a relationship, you still flirt with other women…"

Naruto turned quizzically to his partner. "Flirt? I'm not flirting, I'm being nice! Besides, you heard her, right? She hasn't met any guys our age, so we've gotta make a good impression!"

"…I think she just meant there aren't many guys our age here at the _League, _not that she's never met a young man before in her _life_. Geez, you're so dense sometimes."

A tick-mark veined on the blonde's head as he turned away with a huff. "Hmph, better to overdo it than underdo it anyways."

Sasuke immediately let out a small chuckle. "Heheh, well, that _is_ you're philosophy after all. Though, this is the first time I've seen you use it socially."

Naruto crossed his arms and scowled. "Well, I'm not exactly a social person…"

"True," Sasuke conceded. "The only time I've seen you social is when you're talking to Hinata-san. You should really ask her to teach you about talking to other people; how you didn't offend her within the first five seconds, I will never know."

Naruto growled lowly. "Fuck off, prick."

Sasuke smiled humorously at his companion, shrugging off his insults as he always did.

Akali hesitantly cleared her throat and gestured to the remaining Champions yet to be identified. "Erm… I don't mean to interrupt… but, perhaps we should continue with the introductions?"

Neither of the two boys had time to respond before the tiny, but clear voice of the yordle scout spoke up from below them. "And I'm Teemo! And I'm a yordle in case you were wondering."

Naruto grinned at him and squatted down to his level, offering a hand, which he realize was massive compared to the explorer's. "Nice to meet you too chibi-san!"

Teemo happily accepted his hand and shook it, passing off the apparent nickname as a cultural nuance.

"And Mr. Silent over here is Talon," Lux offered, gesturing to the hooded man in grey beside her.

Said man gave her an annoyed look. "I'm perfectly capable of introducing myself, thank you." She quickly backed away as he turned to the two shinobi. "Talon, as she said." He offered no hand, nor bow, nor any sort of gesture to show he was even greeting them for the first time, though it wasn't much of a surprise; Sasuke expected that from his looks alone.

"Short and sweet. No-nonsense kind of guy, huh?"

Talon gave a partial shrug. "You could say that."

"Well, 'nough said then," the Uchiha finished, knowing anymore would only make the man uncomfortable, or worse, irritate him.

And at last they came to the silent, yet not, maiden who stood just behind the crowd. In contrast to the other women they'd met so far, aside for perhaps Irelia, this woman's hair was a bright cyan blue, tipped with golden, sun-kissed tips. She wore a similarly colored gown that went all the way down to her feet. Naruto beamed brightly at her. "Wow, who let the lady go last? Someone as pretty as you should have introduced herself first, haha!"

The woman smiled warmly at him, but didn't say anything. Instead, to the surprise of both newcomers, she instead raised her hands into the air as the stringed instrument at her side suddenly floated into motion, resting just below her fingertips where they were immediately plucked. They boys' surprised faces were almost immediately replaced by confusion as the musical sounds that came from the instrument hit them to their very core. It felt… exciting, warm, welcoming. Neither could explain it.

"This is Sona," Ashe said as she placed a hand lightly on the woman's shoulder. "She's mute, but she speaks just as clearly through music."

Naruto's hand immediately went to his chest, and his expression was one of bewilderment. "I… I think I know what you mean… Wow…"

Ashe smirked and continued. "Yeah, she'll do that to you. Her music speaks clearer than any words, and it's her primary form of communication, as well as magic."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Music magic? What exactly does that entail?"

Ashe raised her mouth to answer but quickly shut it. "Actually, I think I'll let you figure that out. Sorry, but it's for your own good." Though she finished with a smile, Sasuke had a sneaking suspicion that the inevitable learning experience would be extremely painful.

But as his black eyes observed the beings around him, he couldn't help but notice something, or rather some_one _was missing. "Wasn't there one more of you?"

The women immediately blinked and looked around, noticing he was right. "Hey, he's right. Where's Ahri?" Riven asked, not exactly expecting an answer.

"Oh if only I knew…" Draven muttered under his breath, though purposefully loud enough to be heard.

"Did _anyone_ see where she went?" Lux inquired, looking this way and that for her query. A questioning tune played from Sona's etwahl, showing she was just as confused as they were.

They were interrupted by the sound of sniffling. Turning in the sound's direction they saw Naruto sniffing the air curiously, stepping forward a few steps before a confused, almost concerned look crossed his face. He gave a quick glance this way and that before speaking again. "Hey, this might seem like a random question, but do you guys have a lot of wildlife around here?"

They looked amongst each other before shaking their heads. "Not really no, unless you count the birds and whatnot. Why?"

Naruto quickly shook his head. "Oh, it's nothing important. It's just I caught a strong scent of a fox and was curious."

"He has a habit of finding foxes and keeping them as pets," Sasuke explained. "He has a natural affinity for them, so he's super protective of them."

Ashe and Riven exchanged concerned glances, but before they could carefully word an explanation, Lux beat them to the punch. "Well Ahri originally _was_ a fox before she was turned into a human. Could that be it?"

Both boys' eyes widened in surprise. "A fox turned into human?" Sasuke questioned, not sure if he'd heard right the first time.

"Uhuh! I don't know the details, but apparently she found a dying mage and was turned into a human, though she still has her ears and tails." The light mage paused for a second before blinking in realization. Before anyone could move, she was mere inches from Naruto's shocked face. "Wooow! You have them too!" She reached out to touch his face when Sasuke, quickly noticing what she was going for, reached out and grabbed her arm, his grip firm.

Now it was Lux's turn to be surprised, as she nearly jumped at the swift movement, and at the force behind his grip.

"Don't. Touch. The whiskers."

That was all the Uchiha offered as he hesitantly released the blonde girl's hand. However, instead of silently questioning why, she opted do so aloud. "W-why? What happens if I-"

"-_Bad_ things happen. The last time someone touched his whiskers, they ended up in the hospital. For a month." Sasuke's eyes were narrowed and serious.

"I-I see… well I hope it wasn't anyone important! Haha…"

"It was the leader of our village."

Lux nervously scratched the back of her head as a small drop of sweat fell from her forehead. "O-oh… w-well I guess they'd get the best doctors to heal them."

"She _was_ the best doctor."

"Oooookkk," Ashe said, stepping in and keeping Lux from opening her big mouth again. Sona let out a light-hearted chord as the three men laughed, though Talon's "laugh" was really only a humorous smirk. Still counted though.

"Wait a minute wait a minute," Naruto quickly interjected. "What was that you said?"

His face was so serious that Lux felt herself squirm slightly under his gaze. "W-what do you mean?"

"You said she still has her ears and tail."

"No, I said tails," she corrected. "Nine of them to be exact."

The temperature immediately dropped by several degrees.

Celsius.

Naruto's eyes were wide with shock. Sasuke's were too for that matter. "A nine tailed fox…"

"…Turned human…"

"…here…" Naruto's eyes suddenly widened even more, though this time in apprehensive fear. "Ohhh shii**iitt…!" **

He hadn't even finished his sentence before the various Champions around them backed up as a boiling, crimson energy began to roil around Naruto. The blonde looked down at himself, an action that appeared to take a lot of energy, and quickly cried out. **"SASUKE!"**

The Uchiha was in front of him in an instant, Sharingan eyes boring into his own. "Calm down Naruto…!"

Naruto's clenched jaw and bared, fanged teeth showed how much he was trying to do so, though it was a failing cause, if the blood dripping out the corners of his mouth said anything. Sasuke too was physically struggling. His left fist was wrapped in Naruto's shirt, pulling him close and holding him there. "Calm down!"

"**G….Grrrr… rr…!" ** Naruto's face was twitching and his body was tensed, as if it was all he could do to stay perfectly still. **"S-Sasu…ke…!"**

The Uchiha slammed his forehead against his friend's their eyes mere inches from each other. "I said calm down… Kyuubi!"

For an instant, it looked like Sasuke might be thrown back by some invisible force, or perhaps by Naruto as his arms lashed out from where he was keeping them still. But at the last instant, the liquid like crimson energy vanished like a cloud, and both boys separated, both breathing deeply for air, though Sasuke less so.

"Huff…huff…huff…huff…th-thanks…Sasuke…You're a…a lifesaver…huff…huff…" Naruto's muscles suddenly gave way and he fell flat on his back, exhausted.

"Yeah… No shit…" The Uchiha replied between breaths. "I thought for sure… he'd break free…"

Despite his apparent exhaustion, Naruto managed to grin brightly. "Huff… I know right? Huff… "

"I've never felt him… resist so much before…" Sasuke shook his head. "Damn that was tough…" Sasuke slowly sat himself on the ground, arms resting on his knees. "You're gonna have to talk with him… later…"

"Yeah… huff… sure thing… huff… huff… Jus' give… gimme a minute… a couple minutes… wheew…"

"So… uh, like, what… just happened?" Lux asked, cowering slightly behind Riven, mirroring Draven's position behind his big brother.

Sona looked immensely concerned for both youths and quickly made her way beside the both of them, strumming her instrument gently in a calming tune. The music was lulling, and Naruto almost immediately felt like just closing his eyes and sleeping.

Sasuke ignored the light mage and looked directly at Irelia. He said nothing, but that was enough for her to get the message. He _had_ warned her that something like this might happen after all.

Feeling a bit woozy himself from what he presumed was Sona's magic tunes, he turned to her and nodded with his head. "Thanks for that… Got anything that can cure a headache?"

The woman blinked in surprise, but quickly noted the humor in his voice and smiled, relived. With a few altered plucks, Sasuke immediately felt the pain in his head begin to disappear. "Oh… You do."

She smiled again and continued to strum. Sasuke sighed quietly. _'That's the hardest I've ever felt Kyuubi fight before… But why now?' _He tried to recall the image of Ahri woman from when Akali and Irelia had pointed her out before they began formal introductions, at which point they were distracted by Darius, but he just came up blank. _'He must want something with her… but what?'_

"Wuddia say we continue the tour… later?" Naruto offered with a pained smile. "I'm… kinda in… you know… excruciating pain right now…"

As if in response to his words, Sona shifted her tune to accommodate him. His response was rather comical.

"Ngh…Ahhh… sooooo much better than asprin…"

Darius however looked skeptical. "Is this going to be alright? It doesn't look like he can control himself."

Though he wasn't talking to anyone in particular, Naruto smiled up at him regardless. "It's ok! As long as Sasuke's with me, I'm fine! Besides, I don't usually have that bad an outburst… Actually, I've _never _had one that bad before." His expression turned to one of thoughtfulness as he _hmm_-ed aloud.

"Ma, Sasuke, you think Danzou will be pissed if I tell people about… _him?_"

Sasuke sat silent for several seconds before shrugging. "I couldn't say for sure. In this situation, I'd say it's really up to you."

Naruto blinked and smiled. "That makes things easier then! Even so, I don't want everyone to know about my strengths… Hmm, but it'll be a problem if someone gets hurt from not knowing… What should I do…?"

Sasuke sighed with a smirk. "Heh, you just said it. As long as I'm with you, there's no danger."

"Could have fooled me," Darius said with a raised eyebrow.

Sasuke gave him a cold glance. "Then fools will be fooled," he said callously. "Don't take the name of Uchiha lightly."

Eyes narrowing, Darius made to retort, but quickly closed his mouth and simply excused himself.

The sudden change in atmosphere left everyone else not sure how to break the awkward silence.

"So… any chance of finding out where she went?" Sasuke asked, knowing that if he didn't Naruto would later.

Ashe nodded moved to enter the hedge maze beyond. "She couldn't have gone far, and I'm a pretty good hunter. I'll bring her back as soon as I can."

Sasuke nodded before stopping her. "Actually, under these circumstances, don't. If only the scent of her was enough to trigger an episode, then it's safe to assume it could get much worse with physical proximity."

"So… what do you propose we do?" Riven asked, looking between the white and black haired Champions.

Sasuke was silent for a while, considering the different options. At last he spoke, rising to his feet. "In any case, Naruto needs time to figure out what happened. Until he does that, we shouldn't risk another incident. Keep her away from him as much as possible, and question her if possible."

Ashe cocked her head to the side, her snow-white hair flowing. "You think she had something to do with this? Knowingly I mean?"

"I wouldn't know, but she's absent from the scene, as if she knew this was going to happen. Why wouldn't she stay and greet us with the rest of you?"

"That's right," Akali realized suddenly. "She's really social, so there's no way she'd miss out on meeting new people. _Especially_ boys."

Talon nodded his head, his expression telling all. "That's _definitely_ not like her." He'd been on the receiving end of her deceptively innocent "greetings" before.

"Then I'm off." And with that Ashe was swallowed by the maze.

"In the meantime, it'd probably be a good idea to have some mages take a look at Mr. Naruto here. They'd probably be able to help-"

"-No." Sasuke's cold voice quickly cut the yordle scout from saying any more.

Lux immediately tried to defend Teemo's suggestion. "What? Why? They'd be able to make sure this would never happen again!"

"…You misunderstand," Sasuke quickly interjected. "It's not that we don't want a repeat performance. Quite the opposite; we'd be glad if he didn't have this problem. However, it's not something that we want to share with the rest of the world, nor entirely get rid of it either."

"What do you mean? What exactly _is_ it?" Riven asked, eyeing the blonde resting his head on Sona's knees, seemingly entranced by the soothing sounds of her music.

"It's not my place to tell you." He looked at the ashen haired girl seriously. "If you really wish to know, ask him."

The sound of Naruto's groaning quickly ended their conversation.

"Well, how is it, Naruto?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto grinned as he lifted himself from the lap of the beautiful maven. "Well, I found out why he went nuts!" he exclaimed with such a bright and energetic smile that it almost seemed as if he were excited about it.

"Oh and thanks by the way…" he said looking up at Sona. "Your music really helped that hangover!"

Sona smiled and nodded an acknowledgment.

"So? What did he say?" Sasuke asked, much to the confusion of everyone watching.

Naruto's smile darkened a little. "Well, I… um… Can't… tell you?" He sheepishly scratched the back of his neck and smiled awkwardly. "Sorry, it's his secret."

Sasuke quirked an eyebrow. "Since when does Kyuubi share secrets?"

"Well, never! That's why I can't say anything! If I betray his trust the very first time I'm trusted, how could he ever hope to trust _me_?"

Sasuke sighed. "…This is so complicated."

"Should I ask?" Irelia questioned quietly to her comrade.

"Probably not," was Akali's response.

The captain of the guard sighed, her palm finding her face lightly. _'What exactly did I get us into…?'_

* * *

**A/N: And that's that! Chapter two everybody! I hope you all liked it! I'll try to get the next one out faster, but I can't promise anything. Yes I know I skipped Naruto's Judgement, and it WAS intentional. There will be epic flashbacks later for your enjoyment ^_^ In the mean time though, l****eave a tasty review on the way out! :D**


	3. Chapter 3: The First of Many

**A/N: Well hellooo everybody! Have you missed me? ****No? **

**Oh... ok... :(**

**Then I'll just leave and not give you this new chapter I just made, MUHUHAHAHAHAAHA! No really, I just got done with finals and am on winter break. STORY TIME! Gotta say, I've got tons of ideas for new stories but I can't type fast enough! SO. DARN. FRUSTRATING!**

**Oh, while I'm thinking of it, lemme go ahead and acknowledge those who reviewed the last chapter. *Aherm!* Thank you **Ttran2323, Chewie Cookies, Phr33k, Khazad, DelVarO, Ookami88, Shirokama, Peshomaro, RamenKnight, foxeatfox, LordofVirmillion, Cool, HitogoroshinoKirohito, Vallavarayan, Thoketan, sandcrawlr, alichi, Guest, Ixde, Xahn777, Sevenar, mentalkid, Hungry AL, **and** Kriegmarine. **Your encouragements and criticism is what keeps me going day and night :) Thank you.****  
**

**Now, some announcements. **

**First off I'd like to say that one of my stories, **_Konoha's Silver Shinobi_ ** is ****currently on Brown Phantom's **"What is the Best Naruto Story on this site?" **poll. Please go to his profile and vote to show your support!**

** ~brownphantom**

**Next, I've made a poll on my profile for what story you would like to see next! Be sure to go and vote on that when you get the chance!**

**Lastly, I've added some story challenges to my profile to tickle y'all's brains and muses. Head over to my profile to check them out!**

**That's all I have to announce for now! So I'll leave you all be so you can enjoy the story! **

**Enjoy :D**

* * *

**Other world, Chapter 3:**  
**The First of Many**

Riven wasn't somebody to appear overly excited, and that was likely due to her early military career killing a part of her soul. She'd killed and seen killed many a soldier and civilian, she'd seen towns burn and children get slaughtered. She'd found herself at the crossroads of despair and confusion. She'd chosen her path, and it wasn't one of happiness or joy. And yet… she couldn't explain it.

For some inexplicable reason, there was a small bounce in her step as she made her way through the halls of the Institute of War. It might have been the excitement of the day before, or it might have been her eagerness to witness them in action; whichever it was, she couldn't deny the energy she felt surging uncharacteristically through her body.

With her trusted broken blade strapped to her back, she headed straight for the entrance to the Fields of Justice, her team likely already there. _'Today's their first match, together… I can't wait to see what they're like!'_

As if in response to her thoughts, her body sped up, like it too couldn't wait any longer.

"There you are Riven. We've been waiting on you," came the calm voice of the wind-wielding woman standing in front of her.

"Sorry Janna, everyone, I got distracted earlier," Riven apologized, not wanting to admit she'd lost her focus before a match.

"Hurry, hurry! Want food now!" came the gravelly voice of the Voidborn among them, his hardened silver exoskeleton shivering from hunger.

"Calm yourself Kog'Maw, there will be food enough for us all," came the otherworldly spectral voice of the floating prophet at the door. "These are the rosters for the match," he said, waving his hand and creating an ethereal piece of paper with names and team arrangements.

Riven leaned in close to see, as did everyone else. "Team one, Kog'Maw, Shyvana, Malzahar, Janna, and me… team two, Lux, Draven, Soraka, Naruto and Sasuke." She did her best to pronounce the last two names, but was pretty sure she butchered them. It was always hard to pronounce a new champion's name.

"Two new champions at one time," Janna began, looking at the final two names and shaking her head. "What on Runeterra is the League thinking?"

"I heard they were both found together, so they were inducted together," Shyvana offered, adjusting her gauntlets snuggly around her wrists.

"Actually they were illegally summoned together and found by the Ionians," Riven explained, knowing a bit more of the story then the others.

"Understandable, the League doesn't want otherworldly beings going around unmonitored," Said the purple clad mage. "It wasn't out of any sort of generosity I can assure you."

Janna raised an eyebrow and looked at the man. "Speaking from experience are you?"

His eyes turned to regard her equally. "Yes, actually. The League fears what they do not understand, as do all humans."

Riven was about to retort when the only non-humanoid creature among them began shaking excitedly, acidic saliva dripping from his maw. "Talking is over, match starting! Time to feast!"

They all turned as blue runic rings wrapped around them, and seconds later they were transported with a flash to the summoning platform. Immediately, the presence of their Summoners could be felt in their minds, their subtle suggestions of tactics and plans flowing through their brains collectively. The magical telepathic link shared by each team began to fill with communication and plans.

Knowing her position, Riven immediately went right, passing by the giant nexus and it's armament of purple-adorned turrets on her way to the top lane. Behind her, her teammates were also rushing to their positions, to protect Shyvana during her sojourn into the jungle before going to their own positions.

The large canyon walls on either side of her rose to great heights, and though she was already very familiar with them, she took the time to examine them, as if for the first time. The Fields of Justice were huge, many hundreds of acres of land, magically maintained and repaired by the mages of the League. As she passed by the many towers on the way to her place, she wondered if her opponent would be one of the two new boys.

She blushed as she thought back to her discussion with the others after Sasuke and Naruto both were preoccupied with recovering, courtesy of Sona.

* * *

_Lux couldn't contain herself. "Wooow! Look at the dark haired one! He's totally hot!"_

_Ashe inclined her head. "He is attractive, I'll admit. But I'm married, so I can't say too much," she finished with a smile._

"…_I dunno… I… kind of like the other one to be honest." Riven blushed slightly, embarrassed that her opinion wasn't the popular one. _

_The two women took a second look at him before shrugging. "Eh, I guess he's ok. I still prefer tall dark and handsome over there!" Lux exclaimed. Ashe decided not to comment._

* * *

In all honesty, sure that Sasuke guy was handsome and sharp looking, but he just gave off a certain vibe that Riven wasn't sure she entirely liked. Naruto on the other hand seemed to be more happy-go-lucky and rambunctious. Not that those were always good qualities, but they were more attractive in her opinion.

She shook her head and put those thoughts aside. No doubt she would fight him today, and when the time came she needed to be able to fight without a clouded mind.

'_Now's not the time,'_ she told herself as she raised both hands to her face and slapped her cheeks. _'Time to focus.'_

* * *

Ashe held her hands in front of her as she rode the elevator up to one of the many private observation rooms afforded to her and the other champions free of charge by the League. Today was going to be Naruto and Sasuke's first match, and she had no desire to miss it, especially not after what she'd found out the day before.

_Flashback no Jutsu_

_She'd been in the maze for at least an hour searching for the half-human, half-fox creature named Ahri. The Uchiha boy had told her not to allow her to come in contact with Naruto, and she wondered what might happen if she did. More so, she wondered if Ahri knew what would happen if she and the boy met. Apparently just her scent was enough to cause the blonde to go nuts. Because of that, she had an idea that Ahri knew what was going on, due in part to her character-breaking absence._

_However, she hadn't expected to find the normally sociable woman isolated in a corner of the maze, legs curled up to her chest and her tails wrapped tightly around her. _

"_Ahri…?" she called hesitantly. The fox-woman jumped in what Ashe could almost call fright, and she saw, briefly, the shining streaks of tears falling down the woman's face. _

_But just as soon as she saw them, one of her tails covered her face, wiping them away. She didn't respond. Instead, she turned away and resumed her position of solitude. _

_Now for Ashe, this was quite the predicament; she'd never seen Ahri like this before in her life. She was the _one_ woman in the world that she thought would be unbreakable, but here she was, crying, scared, and alone._

"_Ahri what's wrong? Are you alright?" She asked, taking a cautious step forward._

_Ahri didn't respond, but she didn't move away either. Her tails coiled about herself tightly._

_Ashe approached her quietly, and softly set herself down next to her. She didn't say anything; Ashe knew that sometimes the best way to get someone to talk to you was to simply let them do so on their own. It must have been several minutes. Ahri sniffled every once in a while, something that Ashe honestly didn't think she'd ever see in her lifetime. _

_Presently, the fox-woman spoke. "…what happened… after I left?"_

_The silence now broken, Ashe blinked in surprise and explained what had happened to the blonde at the mention of her true species. _

_Ahri listened quietly, gaining a surprised reaction at the explanation of the boy's reddish energy. But when Ashe had finished Ahri simply sat quietly._

"_So… it's true…" she mumbled, hugging her legs to herself tighter. "…I was right…"_

"_What… were you right about?" Ashe asked carefully, in the sweetest most understanding voice she could manage. _

_Ahri didn't speak for several seconds, and when she did her voice was nearly quivering. "Inside that boy… is a creature…"_

_Ashe felt her eyebrows raise. "A creature…?" she parroted._

"…_It's a monster… a giant monster of power and destruction… And I'm… I'm-…" Her teeth clenched and her hands gripped her legs tightly, as if in anger. "…I'm… reacting to it…"_

"_Reacting? What do you-…?"Ashe suddenly noticed the way Ahri was holding herself, and the way she worded her statement. It wasn't until she smelled the scent of female arousal that she realized fully what the fox girl meant. "Y-you mean-?"_

"_Yes," she hissed out like poison. "I'm human, but part of me is still a fox… and the creature I felt… he was…" she trailed off, but Ashe understood the picture well enough. For whatever reason, to say Ahri wasn't comfortable with the situation would be an understatement. But she couldn't just leave it hanging like that._

"_So… what exactly is the problem…? I mean, no disrespect, but you've no doubt 'reacted' to a lot of things in your life… right?"_

"_Not like this!" Ahri replied with a shout, causing Ashe to recoil. "My only dream was to become human… and now I'm reacting to something that I used to be? That's not…. not what I want!"_

_Ashe felt her eyes soften. "You know, Ahri, as much as we might wish we were something else, we can't deny who we really are… we need to accept that. You may be human now, but you were once something else. I mean, even you aren't _fully_ human, so why should it bother you to be… affected… by this creature?"_

_She could have sworn she saw Ahri bite her lip. "Because… it's ok for animals to be attracted to other animals, right? But I'm human, so I shouldn't be…"_

_Ashe honestly couldn't respond to her. She just sat their silently, allowing the girl some company._

_Flashback end_

She sighed as the elevator platform came to a stop. _'How on earth do you respond to something like that? That it's ok for a human to be aroused by an animal? But she's also part animal… ugh, this is so complicated.'_ She stepped into the hallway and made her way to one of the observation rooms.

'_But then, since she's part animal, wouldn't it make sense if she's put into some sort of heat or something?'_

She knocked on the door ahead of her and it opened for her, allowing her to walk in. As soon as she was in, it closed and locked. Within the lavish room, there was only one other occupant. "I'm here," she called.

Ahri turned and nodded, patting the seat next to her. "I'm glad you came," she said.

Ashe took her seat watched as the champions in the Field took their positions. When Ashe had tried to change the subject the other day, saying that the two boys would likely have a match the following day, Ahri had perked up, and asked if she would join her in watching. The way Ahri had looked… Ashe couldn't say no.

'_It looked like she had things to figure out. I hope watching this match helps her.'_

"I'm glad you invited me. So what's happened so far?" she said leaning forward to observe the battle overview that appeared in front of her.

"Kog'Maw, Shyvana, Malzahar, Janna and Riven versus Draven, Lux, Soraka, and those two new boys…" Ahri said observing the overview as well. Her eyes narrowed as she read the names. "Naruto and Sasuke…" They rolled off the tongue so easily…

She noted the blonde's name, Naruto. That was the boy Ashe said had had the episode, and likely was the one who held that strange entity inside of him. Ahri herself didn't understand what he was, or what the creature inside him was, or how it was even inside him in first place, but she had every intention of finding it out.

* * *

Naruto weaved between the green globule attacks as they flew at him, the silver monster in the distance firing round after round of acidic slime at them. Nearby, a woman floated, sending blasting gusts of wind at them, keeping them from getting anywhere near the creature.

Naruto _tsk-_ed as he was blown back from a wall of air, only to be assaulted by a barrage of burning acid. Quickly ducking and sliding away, he came to a stop beside Sasuke, who didn't seem to be faring any better.

"You ok Sasuke?"

"Dandy. Their combo is nasty. She keeps us at bay while the other snipes at us, and he in turn provides covering fire if we go after her."

Naruto growled as he lowered himself and threw a kunai at one of the approaching minions. _'Shit, I don't even know what the fuck that thing is,'_ he thought as he focused on dodging another assault of slime and wind. _'And yet I already know how to fight it. I know both of their attacks and defenses. What's going on here?'_ he wondered frustrated.

The last thing he expected was a response.

'_It's Kog'Maw. He's a creature of the Void; a Voidborn. He's a long range specialist who excels at chewing through even the heaviest of defenses. Essentially, he's from another dimension, same as you.'_

Naruto blinked.

Once.

Twice.

'_WHO THE FUCK'S IN MY HEAD?!'_

There was a bit of laughter, not all from the same source. Another voice spoke up. _'The properties of the magic in the Fields of Justice links our minds telepathically, allowing us to communicate across large distances,'_ it said, an excited female voice he could have sworn he'd heard before.

'_Wait… you're that girl from before!'_ he exclaimed mentally as he launched an explosive kunai at an incoming blob of slime, using the resulting explosion to dodge the following fire.

'_Yup! It's me, Lux!'_ she replied excitedly. Naruto could practically see her bubbly face as she said it.

He growled in irritation. _'I don't like people in my head…'_ he muttered as if in warning.

'_Deal with it bro, it's how Summoners communicate with each other,'_ came a more manly voice that sounded suspiciously like that Darius fellow's brother.

Sasuke smirked. _'Draven, was it? I assume the reason we already know how to fight these people is because of these 'Summoners' you mentioned?'_

'_Clever deduction,' _came yet another voice, this one calmer and less adolescent. _'Yes, because of the experience of your Summoners, you know what they do, at least in regards to the League of Legends.'_

Sasuke smirked as he flew with the wind sent at him. _'They must be weak, I don't feel anywhere near as strong as I usually do.'_

'_That's because they don't know how to use you. The more you fight in here, the more they can properly sync up to you, allowing you access to more of your abilities.'_

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. _'So that's why I haven't felt like using my other abilities; my Summoner doesn't understand how to use them yet.'_

'_That's how it goes,'_ Draven said. _'But after a while, your minds meld and they understand you perfectly, allowing you to use your full power.'_

Sasuke felt a smirk grace his lips. _'Well, that won't do at all.'_

He eyed Naruto who returned the gaze. At once they nodded, sharing a grin. Simultaneously their hands weaved through a series of seals before they brought their fingers to their faces. '_**Shinranshin no Jutsu!**_'

* * *

Instantly, a severely loud, shrieking static filled the minds of every Champion on their team, and then all went silent. Draven retreated to the tall grass usually designed for ambushes and crouched down, rubbing his temples. _'What the hell was that?! What'd you two do?'_

He was met by silence. As soon as he tried to access their team-shared vision afforded by the Summoners-link, all he saw was the vision given by the friendly minions. He couldn't see through their eyes at all.

'_They broke the connection!'_ Soraka said in astonishment. _'Only the strongest magic could do that!'_

'_You mean they cut off their mental link?' _Lux asked in bewilderment. The loud shriek had almost allowed Malzahar's Void-given powers to hit her._ 'Why would they do that?! That only hurt us all in the long run!'_

Soraka placed a hand to her head, feeling through her mental link. _'No, they didn't just cut the link between us, but between them and their Summoners!'_

'_What?! That's impossible!_' Lux cried mentally.

'_Yes, it is…' _Soraka confirmed disbelievingly. _'By all accounts, it should be impossible for anyone, even the most capable and knowledgeable of mages to cut the connection.'_

'_So, what are you saying? That they're not limited by the sync-system or the skill of the Summoner?' _Lux questioned, almost unable to believe it.

Draven grit his teeth, but smiled regardless. _'Damn kids, they don't play by the rules! Glad they're on my team.'_

'_Our team.'_

'_Whatever.'_

* * *

Naruto sighed rolled his neck. "Ahh that's so much better!"

Sasuke raised his hand and felt sparks of electricity dance over his skin. "_There's_ my power. Nice to be in control again."

Narto grinned. "Good thing Fu helped Danzou teach us all how to counter mind control techniques."

Sasuke smirked and placed a hand on his hip, stepping up to stand by his partner. "Now then…" he eyed the two in the distance, their eyes always watching, but their assault having paused.

"…Shall we dance?"

Naruto grinned as he crouched down.

"Yes, we shall. Hehe…"

* * *

Ashe was on her feet in an instant; as soon as the magical monitors for Sasuke and Naruto went inexplicably blank she could only assume what they'd done, however impossible it seemed. "They cut their link?!" she almost screamed in disbelief.

Ahri's eyes were wide in shock. "But that's… impossible!"

Whoever these two were, they were already a force beyond her comprehension.

* * *

Janna sensed when their tactics changed. After only the briefest of lulls in their skirmishing, they went full on offensive. The black haired boy was fast, capable of cutting through their minion forces with ease and pushing their own forward. With swift, precise slices, he cut through Kog'Maw's ranged attacks with an electrified blade that didn't seem to melt or deform, despite the intensely acidic qualities of the Voidborn's spittle.

Worse yet, it seemed that her wind techniques were suddenly of very, _very_ little use anymore. The blonde, to her immense disbelief, was using wind magic as well! Only instead of creating massive gusts of wind or tornadoes to wall off and batter her enemies, he collected it, refined it into a lethal cutting blade that could slice through even her attacks. _'Wind cutting wind…! Is that even possible?!'_

She now realized that this boy, in comparison to herself, was an expert; an absolute master of wind manipulation and command.

And just like that, she knew she was bested.

In that instant, she knew the futility of her own powers. And she knew that she would spend the rest of her life trying to achieve that same level.

'_No time to think, we hunger,' _came Kog'Maw's surprisingly calm voice as his scales changed color, his alien blood shifting through his body as he over charged his muscles and enzyme production to fire longer and more power bursts of acid. Like a machine gun, his blasting shots tore through the air, and then the landscape, splattering over the ground and vegetation, massacring many an unfortunate minion, even though they weren't the direct targets.

Immediately, the black haired boy interposed himself between them and their target, slashing the attacks out of the sky with such speed and finesse that not even a drop of acid hit him or his ally.

'_Such skill…! Does such a level of swordsmanship truly exist?' she wondered weakly._

'_What's going on up there you two?' _Shyvanaasked as she completed her round through the jungle. _'If you're having trouble just tell me.'_

'_Stay away! This meal ours!' _Kog'Maw almost vehemently commanded.

Shyvana was taken aback by the force of his words; Kog'Maw rarely took charge like that. However, as soon as she took a look through their shared vision, she suddenly regretted her earlier offer to help.

* * *

"Shots incoming!"

"Switch!"

With a flash of light, Sasuke interposed himself between the incoming projectiles and his friend, using his lightning imbued blade to instantly sear the acid hitting it into vapor.

"Now!"

Naruto surged past him, meeting a battering force of wind, which he sliced through instantly. "Hah! Fighting me with wind is useless!" he cried as she sped forward, a blade of wind forming on his hand as he approached his enemies.

"**Kaze no Yaiba!**"

Janna's eyes widened as the blade grew in size and length, its razor sharp edges clear to her, a wind user. In a desperate gamble, she gathered all of her remaining wind energy and let it explode outward, in an attempt to knock him away.

Like a hurricane, the wind whipped around them, blasting outward and shoving earth, soil and stone away.

Naruto grinned excited as he thrust his hand forward, his wind blade spinning like a drill against the cacophonic monsoon-like windstorm. They clashed for an instant…

…But only for an instant.

With a flash of light and wind, Janna's eyes went wide. She looked down, only to see the young man's arm disappear inside her. Odd, she didn't feel very much pain. As her body glowed before her spirit was extracted from her body, she realized it was likely because her nerves had been severed by the same strike that ended her life.

Naruto watched a white flash of light vanished out of her body, likely her spirit collected by the magic that controlled the arena to be deposited into her healed body at the summoning platform. At least, that what he'd been told happens when you die.

But he had more pressing matters to deal with.

The wind had died down and he was able to see Sasuke get his sword gripped in that void creature's mouth. With a twist, it threw the sword (and the ninja attached to it) away, before bounding over to Naruto, mouth open and tubular tongue lolling out of its mouth like a dog.

Naruto's eyes widened as it leapt up and at him. For what little knowledge he'd gleamed from his Summoner before he severed the connection, he knew Kog'Maw was ranged, and was at home most at a distance, lobbing deadly acidic slime from insane distances. So not only did his head on charge seem almost suicidal against him, who had _just_ proven his superiority at close range combat, but it also caught him completely off guard.

"Wha-?!"

With his maw wide and ready to swallow a grown man, the Mouth of the Abyss attacked.

* * *

Ahri's eyes were wide as the blonde, Naruto, completely dominated Janna's greatest techniques, with her own element too! But she could tell that neither boy was using mana, but rather their own energy, like how Akali, Kennen, and Shen did. But even then, it wasn't exactly the same… it was different; unique.

And every time she had the ward-screen focus in on the boy's face, she felt a burning heat spread through her body.

But what drew her attention most was the boy's triple-whiskered cheeks. Gently she touched her own cheeks, which bore eerily similar marks. _'This boy, Naruto… could he be like me?'_

However, her attention was diverted from his face to the charging Voidborn running headlong at the blonde. Normally, that wouldn't be surprising, since Kog'Maw had a tendency to create a chemical reaction in his body that caused him to explode violently, almost always guaranteeing that he took someone with him. However, it was always a last resort, and he hadn't taken any hits yet.

"What is he-…?"

Her answer was swift, and completely unexpected.

* * *

"What are you doing?!" one Summoner asked to his partner.

"He's… he's not responding! It's like he's out of control!"

* * *

Naruto's eyes were wide as he was tackled to the ground, the massive creature pinning to the ground with one, four-toed foot. But instead of rearing back and hacking up a massive acidic loogie, the creature instead leaned down and _sniffed._

"…Is he _smelling_ you?" Sasuke asked, barely able to contain his mirth.

Naruto hesitantly raised his head and watched as the monster began snuffling around him, as if searching for something specific.

"Um… I think so... Kog'Maw was it?" he asked the monster carefully, though it ignored him.

After a few seconds, it seemed to find what it was looking for in Naruto's back pocket. "H-hey!" he cried as the living mouth pulled off his utility pouch and dumped its contents on the ground, shifting through the contents until he found one particular scroll and peered at it with two of his four eyes. A small whimpering sound seemed to emanate from his throat as he stared at the piece of parchment.

Suddenly, Sasuke's eyes widened as he realized what the monster was likely after. "Naruto, isn't that your food storage scroll?"

Naruto looked at his compatriot and his face lit up as the answer also dawned on him. "Ohhh! He must smell the food residue on it!"

Taking the scroll from under Kog'Maw's nose, he unrolled it. Kog'Maw watched expectantly as he did so, his short tail wagging faster and faster as his four eyes looked over the strange characters and symbols. But it wasn't what he _saw_ that excited him. Rather, it was what he _smelled._

Ignoring the mental cries from his teammates asking what in the world he was doing, he sniffed along the scroll, bypassing several storage seals until he reached a very particular symbol. Naruto's eyes widened as he realized what it was the beast smelled, causing Sasuke to smirk knowingly. "Ah I see what he wants. Naruto give him some."

Naruto whirled in disbelief at his partner. "WHAT?! No way! That's mine; _mine!_ Nobody can have it but me!"

"No! Want food! Starving, starving!" Kog'Maw cried at Naruto's response, mashing his head into the paper, as if to somehow bridge the dimension that separated him from the food on the other side.

Naruto watched with pity as the hungry monster's stomach growled and mouth drooled in anticipation. Finally, Naruto sighed and relented. "*sigh…* _Fine_… I guess I'll let him…"

Shoving the beast's snout away from the paper, he placed his hand on the seal and with an explosion of smoke, sat a steaming bowl of ramen. Instantly Kog'Maw's four eyes lit up as he took a deep sniff of the beautiful creation of noodles, beef and broth.

"Mmmm, smells so _good!_" He excitedly exclaimed as his tail waged faster and faster. With a cry of joy, his tongue extended and sucked up the soup like a straw.

"I see, he just wanted your ramen. That's why he trampled you."

Naruto glared at his friend. "Geez, don't make it sound so horrible." He redirected his eyes at the bowl only to see it was empty.

"More more! So good! Noodles are delicious! Can we have more?"

Whether it was from the way the creature seemed (in that instant) to act like a playful dog, or the begging tone he took that pulled at Naruto's heartstrings, _or_ the way he realized in the back of his head that this was another ramen loving being, he sighed with a smile and shrugged his shoulders.

"Can't be helped I guess," he said as he placed his hand against the paper and with an even bigger explosion of smoke, sat three bowls of ramen.

But Kog'Maw shook his head. "No no, not enough. We need more!"

"More? How much can you eat?"

Kog'Maw seemed to deliberate on that before speaking again. "One hundred… maybe… Maybe three hundred."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Sasuke immediately knew that the culinary world was in jeopardy. "Wait, Naruto, don't even think-!"

But it was too late.

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he glared at the Void beast. "Oh, you think you can eat more ramen than me?" he asked, apparently forgetting that the creature was his enemy in this competition of Champions and magic.

* * *

Shyvana quickly made her way to the northern lane hoping Kog'Maw had been able to hold his own against those two new boys. She'd heard the announcement that Janna had been killed, but since then hadn't heard anything else, she assumed he must have been able to survive. She only hoped he was in a position to aide her as she ambushed them.

Quickly, she dove into the tall grass ahead of her and waded through it, aiming to spring from it in full dragon from and slaughter the fools opposing her. However, as she poked her head out to assess the situation, she found her jaw dangling very near the ground.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!" She screamed out at the three beings in front of her.

Sasuke had his face resting in his palm as Naruto and Kog'Maw downed bowl after bowl of some sort of noodle soup. Next to Naruto lay at least a _few_ _dozen _empty bowls stacked one on top of the other. Kog'Maw however seemed to enjoy eating the ceramic dishes along with the soup itself.

Neither seemed to have taken notice of her, nor paid attention to her cry.

Sasuke palmed his face and waved to her. "Sorry… The idiot doesn't know how to back down from a challenge," he said, giving his blonde ally a glare.

Shyvana was left speechless as Kog'Maw downed another three bowls in one gulp, oblivious to her presence. A sudden anger rose inside her at Kog'Maw's complete incompetence. "Grrrr! Fine, I'll just deal with you myself!" she growled as her gauntlets lit up with flames.

Sasuke's exasperated expression gave way to one of entertainment. "I see… you take me out, you have a clear shot at Naruto. However, I doubt you'll be in any condition to fight him by the end of this…" he said as he drew his gleaming katana from its sheath. "…provided that is, if you can even _beat_ me."

Shyvana growled as flames began to pour out of her fists. "I may not know much about you, new boy, but you also know nothing about me."

Sasuke smirked. "That remains to be seen." And like that he was gone.

Shyvana's eyes widened as he reappeared behind her, sword descending with a flash of light. On reflex she raised her left hand up and caught the blade on her armor. Pouring her flames into her other hand, she reeled back and thrust her fist forward, watching as it barely grazed the agile young man. Sasuke smirked as he ducked out of the way, dodging a blast of fire that sped past him, and then another on his other side. With a slash, he cut another burst of flame in half, causing its containment to fall apart and reduce to a barely-singing heat.

But Shyvana wasn't deterred. With a fearsome battle cry, flames gathered around her feet and exploded, sending her flying toward the raven haired shinobi like a bullet. Bringing her hands together in front of her, an enormous wave of flame boiled around her, making her into, if only for a brief moment, a meteor. But just as soon as the flames appeared, they were blown away as the monstrous form of a massive red scaled dragon lunged at Sasuke.

Sasuke's eyes went wide as he witnessed the mythical beast release an ear shattering roar at him, followed by a wave of pure flame. The wall of fire washed over him but for a moment before he took a deep breath.

'_**Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!**__'_ With a breath, the flames around him parted as a massive sphere of flame raced toward the dragon.

Shyvana's surprise was short lived as the sphere slammed into her, sending her many meters back, but doing nothing else to injure her. Growling she roared at the man with such force that the flames around them were put out. **"Do you think you can kill a dragon with fire?!"** she mocked in anger. **"You naïve little child!"** She stomped forward and raised her right claws to rend the boy asunder.

However, Sasuke only smirked. "That's my line; do you think you can kill an Uchiha with fire?"

His words surprised her, but only for a moment before she slashed down. But where she'd expected blood, guts, and gore to spill out of the boy's body, to her shock, his body seemed to shift, morphing into a murder of crows. **"Wha-?!" **

She reeled back as the carrion birds flew into her vision, and then around her. But the boy was nowhere to be seen. That is until her dragon-nose smelled him… above her?

She whirled on all fours and stared up at him, his hands flashing through many strange symbols before they folded together with both index and middle fingers pointing up.

"**Katon: Gōka Messhitsu!**"

He threw his head forward, spewing out a stream of white-hot searing flames that slammed against her resistant scales. The fact that a human (she assumed that was what he was, though she was now beginning to doubt) could spit fire like a dragon surprised her enough, but now, as the fire roiled around her, she was shocked by another notion…

His fire _hurt_.

The idea was completely preposterous. She was a dragon! A mythical creature of power and flames! She didn't _feel_ heat! What flames could be conjured that hurt her?

Up until now, she'd have said "none," but here she was, feeling the burning heat of fire upon her scales.

'_**This cannot be,'**_she thought as she recoiled under the fire around her. _**'This **_**will**_** not be.'**_

With a flex of her mighty wings, she spread them like a fan and threw them aside, sending massive gusts of wind that dissipated the flames around her. **"You damned human!"** she called up to him.

Sasuke merely smirked down at her, seemingly comfortable with falling at breakneck speeds toward her now open jaws. **"I'll eat you alive!"**

"_What_ will you eat alive?"

Her eyed went wide at the voice behind her. Diverting her gaze, she saw the same boy behind her. The same one she was about to bite in half. But as she looked back up, he was not there.

"**What…?" **Suddenly she felt incredibly weak… Numb even. Her strength was gone. Just a moment ago she was prepared to take on the world, but now…

She looked down, and realized the cause. The boy's shining blade, no more special looking than any other sword she'd seen, had _pierced_ her scale-mail armor, running deep into her chest cavity, and likely penetrating many important organs along with it.

"**Y-you…!"**

"Know the power of the Uchiha clan, dragon. Know it, and fear it."

And like that the light faded from her eyes.

* * *

Sasuke watched as her white life force flew up into the sky, back to her nexus where her body would be repaired. Sighing he flipped his blade around and sheathed it, looking about at the burning, scorched valley he now inhabited. Looking up, he spotted his query and leapt up to meet them.

With a flutter of cloth, he landed next to a spectating Naruto and Kog'Maw, both content to watch his battle while they continued to consume Naruto's seemingly endless supply of ramen.

"I don't suppose either of you two could have… I don't know… _helped_ at all?"

Naruto gestured to his bowl. "Fhut… wamem."

Sasuke sighed. "Naruto, just as Danzou has told you _hundreds_ of times, ramen is _not_ an excuse to not do your job."

"Fhut wou hagh iph cophered!"

"Of course I had it covered. I'm me after all."

Swallowing his mouthful of noodles, Naruto looked as if he might growl at the Uchiha. "Then what's your deal?"

"I don't have a 'deal.' I'm simply stating that you _could_ have helped."

Naruto sighed and ignored him, going back to his ramen consumption.

Sasuke eyed the silver creature and raised an eyebrow. "What's your excuse?"

The Voidborn simply ate a mouthful of soup. "Ramen good."

Sasuke sighed and palmed his face. "…Of course it is."

* * *

Ashe watched in disbelief as Kog'Maw, acting of his own volition, seemed to simply sit on the sidelines with Naruto… _eating._

"I guess in the end, Kog'Maw's ultimate master _is_ his stomach," Ahri said with a grin, some of her normal personality returning.

Ashe couldn't even fathom the kind of willpower it would take to sever a Summoner's already-established mental link… she just couldn't.

* * *

Naruto strolled out of the massive arena like a baller; hands behind his back, oblivious, bright smile adorned, and a small bounce in his step. Next to him followed the Void being Kog'Maw, his large head nearly nuzzling the blonde like a lost puppy.

Regardless of the fact that Naruto had actually _lost_ a ramen eating contest, he felt surprisingly… gleeful. Probably he was just glad to see someone (or some_thing_ in this case) who enjoyed eating ramen as much as he did.

With their main damage source now a turn-coat, the entirety of top lane was demolished in no time as Sasuke drove his minion forces to victory against Janna multiple times. Janna, not being a direct combat fighter, and Sasuke, being the nimble and agile speed-demon he was, out-played her every time. Without Kog'Maw, the purple team's chances of victory died quickly, leading to an expedient surrender.

Sasuke stepped out of the doorway into and out of the Fields with a victorious smirk, but a mellow attitude. He knew what they'd done had probably upset many a Summoner and that in all likelihood, the authorities of the League would be extremely upset.

Behind them, the rest of the two teams shuffled out as well, heads hung in defeat and confusion. Everyone wanted to ask, but no one dared to voice it; "How did you escape the Summoner's control?"

Sasuke had no intention of telling. That kind of technique was special and important; it was an anti-Yamanaka technique, taught by Fu to the top echelons of ROOT operatives in the event of a rogue ninja encounter, however unlikely that was. From what he'd seen, the Yamanaka clan was rather complacent to live in Konoha. In fact, there was a Yamanaka his own age in the general Konoha ninja corp.

Who knew the technique would have come in handy like this?

"Congratulations on your win."

Sasuke and Naruto's heads snapped up at the new voice, both of then noticing the figure that stood in the shadows of on the hall's pillars. "Truly, I expected nothing less from the both of you."

Naruto's eyes narrowed. He'd heard that voice before… "You… I know you…"

The figure seemed to chuckle in amusement as it stepped out of the darkness.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Akasuna no Sasori… so this is where you disappeared to."

The red headed young man smiled and applauded, presenting himself to the ten individuals in front of him. "Well met, Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto. Your reputations precede you both."

Naruto growled, ignoring his praise. "ROOT's been tailing you for weeks, and then you up and suddenly drop off the face of the earth. I guess it makes sense now…"

Sasori smiled. "Ahh, so it was _ROOT_ that was following me, eh? I should have expected something like that, but I'd figured it was Kiri ANBU. I_ had_ planned on catching those little rats, but… well, you can guess."

"Let me guess, they inducted you into this little political game as well?" Sasuke accurately questioned.

Sasori shrugged. "They offered, but I declined. I am a rouge after all; I don't work for anyone but myself."

"I should kill you right now," Naruto growled, his fists clenching. "Those are standing orders upon contact with any Akatsuki."

"I'd welcome the opportunity, were it permitted," Sasori said with what could almost be called a smug grin. "Any fighting outside the Fields of Justice, or whatever they call them, is strictly prohibited, and of course, no one can die _inside_, so you're stuck with me until we find a way back, just as I, unfortunately, am stuck with you."

"Since when do Akatsuki follow the rules?" Sasuke snorted with a disbelieving smirk.

"Since _we_ said so!"

Naruto and Sasuke both flinched at the imposing figure of a League official approached them. "I am Institute Guard Commander Rogan Runemancer. The council has ordered your presence immediately."

Everyone cringed at the harsh tone of the guard's voice; those two boys were in for it for sure. But to their surprise, neither Sasuke nor Naruto seemed to be affected by his tone.

"And if we were to refuse?"

Thei man's gaze narrowed and he snapped his fingers, quintuplet of guards fanning out on either side of him, spear-like weapons leveled at the two boys.

"That would be… most unwise."

Naruto's grin turned a shade darker at the appearance of the twenty soldiers aimed at him. "'Unwise you say?' Talk about the pot calling the kettle black."

Rogan raised an eyebrow as Sasuke placed a hand on his sword. "What's _truly_ unwise, is _you_… threatening _us_." His burning gaze turned to glowing crimson, and his white blade flashed out into the light.

"I am Uchiha Sasuke, the last of the honored and noble Uchiha clan. You _will_ treat me with respect."

Rogan's eyes narrowed as well, his visage darkening with a scowl. "Unless you intend for your 'honored and noble clan' to die out today, I'd recommend you do as you're told."

Everyone waited with baited breath, not knowing who would bow out first. However, from the way Naruto was standing, his muscles flexed in preparation to attack, showed it wasn't going to be him or his partner.

However, all tension was shattered by the cry of the guard's name from behind.

"ROGAN!"

The man immediately whirled with wide eyes at the man approaching them. "Brother!" he cried as he bowed to a knee in Rastor's presence. However, the elder would have none of his feigned piety.

"Rogan, I specifically told you not to provoke them. Mr. Uchiha is from a very prestigious noble family, and will be treated as equal to that of our own. Is that understood?"

"But… sir I-"

"-I SAID… is that understood… _Rogan_?"

Naruto smirked at the man in front of them, and how he was practically sweating in his older brother's presence.

"Y-yes… Councilman… as you command…"

Rastor nodded with a wave of his hand the guards raised their pikes back into the air, standing at attention. "In addition, Mr. Uzumaki is likewise to be considered a VIP until such a time as the order is rescinded. Clear?"

"Yes Councilman," his brother repeated.

"Very good. Now, overlooking my brother's hasty and ignorant actions, would the two of you please accompany me to the council room? We have things we need to discuss…" he finished with a polite but serious tone.

Sasuke gave a small _hmph_, sheathing his blade while Naruto smirked.

"Well, since you asked nicely…."

* * *

"But I don't _want_ to talk to him! I don't even want to be near him!" Ahri said as she tried to grab onto anything secure as Ashe dragged and pushed her through the halls.

"If you don't talk to him, you won't sort out your feelings!" the archer said as she struggled to get the former fox to comply.

"I don't _have_ any feelings!" she almost cried comically as she held onto the corner of a wall with all her strength.

"Oh please…ugh! I can tell you're confused… ugh! Would you let go already?!"

"Nooo! I don't wannaaaaa!" she cried pitifully as she clawed at the ground for an anchor.

Ashe was about to freeze the woman's hands together to keep her from resisting, when the sound of footsteps alerted both of them to the presence of others. Quickly deciding it best to hide, they both zipped around a corner and peered around it.

"…again I feel I must apologize to for my younger brother; he can be bold and brash at times."

"Sounds like someone I know…"

"Talk to the finger, Sasuke."

"Hmhm."

"Regardless, I must convey my incredulity at your skills. I wouldn't have guessed soldiers like you would know abilities capable of snapping a Summoner's from their synchronization. I must ask you don't do so again."

"In case you didn't notice, I don't do 'other people in my head' or didn't you get the message during that 'reflection' thingy?"

Three figures came into view, one of them being Rastor Runemancer, the head of the three councilmen who ran both the Insitute and the League. The other two were clearly the two boys from the match just before.

"The council is aware of your… aversion to mind reading and other similar techniques. Our mages are still suffering from the trauma you caused in the reflection process."

Both Ahri and Ashe's eyes widened when they heard that. Giving each other a glance, they knew they were thinking the same thing.

"Hey, don't blame me; I told you it was a bad idea from the get-go."

"I never said I blame you; in fact I'm rather regretting the choice it _ignore_ you. Who knows when or even if they will fully recover?"

"Weird, I've never caused anyone that much pain before in that situation… You guys must not be used to people capable of throwing you out of their mind."

"Such people are indeed few and far between," Rastor admitted.

Naruto shrugged at the man's honesty, but then stopped short. Sasuke caught his perplexed gaze and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, you alright?"

Naruto turned and sniffed the air. "Yeah… I just… I thought I smelled something."

Sasuke gave him a knowing look and pushed him along. "You probably did; ignore it for now."

"But-"

"-Later!"

Naruto sighed and relented, allowing himself to be moved along by his partner, while unbeknownst to him, Ahri was breathing a sigh of relief.

Collapsing to the ground, her legs no longer able to support her, she placed a hand to her chest and took a calming breath. When he'd turned around and sniffed the air, she knew… she just _knew_ that he'd caught her scent. That realization sent her body into a frenzy; her heart suddenly pounded within her breast, and her legs felt like jelly. Her breathing hitched and her voice was caught in her throat. As soon as the 'danger' passed, all energy left her body.

Ashe was by her side instantly. "H-hey, what's wrong? You feeling alright?"

Ahir took a few calming breaths before shaking her head. "Yes… and no," she admitted with a slightly laugh, though it seemed a bit forced. "I'll be fine… I think. Just help me up."

Ashe nodded and obliged, helping to fox-girl to her feet. Dusting herself off, Ahri gave a thankful smile to the Frost Archer and her tailed resumed their usually swaying behind her back. But to the queen's surprise, Ahri simply about-faced and began walking away.

"H-hey, wait a minute! Where're you going?"

Ahri stopped and turned slightly. "Thank you for joining me today, but I need to be alone for a little bit."

Without waiting for an answer she continued on, back to her own quarters.

Ashe simply stood there, not entirely understanding what was going on with the other woman. What she _did_ know was that Ahri's discomfort and agitation obviously stemmed from Naruto, for whatever reason. All Ashe had were clue at the moment, but she wondered if piecing together the puzzle was impossible…

Sighing herself, she also turned and walked away, wondering if it was even worth looking into or whether it would all play out?

For Ahri's sake, she hoped it would.

* * *

"Here she comes…"

"Keep an eye on her tail. He's slippery."

"I know."

The two individuals sat completely still on the room of one of the street-side buildings, their silhouettes clear, but immobile against the light of the full moon in the sky. With their dark clothing, they blended in with the shadows around them perfectly. Their query was running through the empty streets, her breath loud and heavy.

Both silhouettes watched her carefully, the first of the two, also a female, keeping her eyes trained on the street, while other eyed the girl warily.

The girl was their charge; their objective. At least, her _safety_ was their objective. Her name was Hinata Hyuuga, veritable princess of the Hyuuga clan. For whatever reason she was being chased by another individual, and it was their job to make sure she was safe, no holds barred.

Hinata huffed loudly as she dashed through the streets, hoping for the safety of pedestrians or shop-lights. None were present however, and considering the time of night, she wasn't surprised. It was nearly three in the morning. Using her Byakugan, she looked around, noting nobody in the immediate vicinity, to which she was thankful. Letting her legs slow to a stop she leaned over and breathed in deep mouthfuls of air.

She was being pursued. By whom, she didn't know, only that he wore an ANBU mask. Even so, he clearly wasn't from the main ranks. _'Could it be… ROOT? But why would they want me? Naruto told me I would be safe from them.'_

A light crunch of gravel caught her ears and she whirled Byakugan blazing as she spotted her pursuer. "Come out! I know you're there!"

She was met by silence. However, he couldn't hide from her, so she dashed forward and 'round the corner where she knew he was standing. What she saw stunned her.

There was _nothing_ there. She blinked and flinched back in surprise, bumping into something not-quite-solid behind her. Whirling again, this time with a gasp, she made to smash her palm into the masked being's chest. Before her blow could connect, it was caught by the wrist with a single hand and a cold, sharp blade pressed to her throat before she could make another move.

"Don't move. Answer my questions and you might live."

She growled at him through clenched teeth. "Who are you? What do you want with me?!"

"Like I said I simply require information."

His voice was quiet and impassive. Becoming more convinced of the ANBU's allegiances, she decided she'd go ahead and play his game. "If you have something to ask, then ask it!"

"Three days ago you contacted Uchiha Sasuke. He left on a mission soon after and disappeared. You were the last person to have made contact with him."

"That doesn't sound very much like a question," she grumbled before he pressed the blade against her neck harder. "What was the nature of your meeting?"

Hinata, knowing exactly what she'd met him for, and also knowing it might not be best to reveal anything too prematurely, simply said, "We just talked. That's all."

"And?" Clearly he didn't believe her.

She would have sighed if she weren't so tense. "…I gave him a note… a note to give to his partner."

"Uzumaki Naruto, you mean." It was a statement, not a question.

"…Yes…" she almost hissed out.

The ANBU continued. "What is the nature of your relationship with Uzumaki Naruto?"

"W-wha…?" she whispered out, doing her best to act innocent. What she received was a light cut on her skin.

"We are aware of your relationship with Naruto; we simply ask the nature of it."

She flinched as a trickle of blood ran down her neck. Could she really trust this person? Could she tell him that they were in love? She couldn't risk that knowledge getting out, especially on the off-chance he wasn't ROOT and was actually just someone out to ruin her life. It wouldn't have been the first time that someone had staged an event just to mess with her.

"W-we're just friends…" she said through clenched teeth, though now clenched from pain and the fear of more.

"Don't lie." He ordered, spinning her around and placing the blade against her throat again, this time in a tighter hold. "What is the nature of your relationship with Uzumaki Naruto?"

"I-I just told y-"

She was silenced by the blade slicing through her skin, releasing her blood to the air. She immediately lifted her hands to her throat to staunch the flood of her life-blood.

"A shallow cut. No organs were damaged; you can still speak. The next will be deeper." He rambled off efficiently. "What is the nature of your relationship with Uzumaki Naruto?"

She looked up at him fearfully, his blade poised to strike again. Wincing in pain, she responded again, "I t-told you… we're just f-friends…"

The ANBU let out a sigh and slashed again, this time aiming to lop off one of her hands.

Hinata watched as the blade sank deep into flesh, splitting skin, muscle, bone and organs. Thick blood splattered across her face and clothes, her eyes wide with fear and surprise.

Funnily enough though, so were the ANBU's.

He didn't even have time to cry out before his body fell in two; split diagonally through the collar bone and the pelvis. He hit the ground with a sickening splash of blood and organs.

His killer smiled and lifted his ridiculously large blade over his shoulder. "Hehe, that's what you get for tryin' to be an asshole."

Another figure landed beside him and kneeled down to Hinata's level. Noting Hinata's injury, she pulled back a sleeve an offered her bare arm to the surprised Hyuuga. "Here, bit me."

Hinata blinked in surprised, but the other girl simply pushed her arm closer. Not understanding why, but realizing they were both her saviors, if not directly her protectors, opened her mouth and sank her teeth into the other girl's wrist.

She winced in pain but bore with it. Amazingly, Hinata could feel healing chakra enter her body and circulate around her neck, sealing the cut rapidly. With a sigh, Hinata withdrew her fangs from her flesh and wiped her mouth.

"Are you alright?" the girl asked her, also wiping off her arm with her sleeve.

Hinata nodded hesitantly. "Y-yes I am, t-thank you. But… who…w-who are you two?"

The boy with the giant, now blood covered blade, turned and smiled at her. "Suigetsu. Houzuki Suigetsu. This girl here's Karin. We were ordered by Sasuke to keep you safe from ROOT, or whoever else might try to hurt you while Naruto's gone."

Hinata blinked in shock. "S-Sasuke-san did…?"

"Sasuke and Naruto are like brothers." The newly identified Suigetsu continued. "As soon as Sasuke saw you were someone Naruto was interested in, and considering your… *ahem* social status, he realized there could be problems if people got nosy."

"S-so… you're saying Sasuke-san hired you to protect me because he was afraid of something happening to me, for _Naruto-kun's_ sake?"

Karin nodded. "Yes, but he didn't need to hire us. He asked us."

Suigetsu looked at her strangely. "He's paying me; don't know what you're talking about."

"Yeah well you're stingy!"

Suigetsu snorted and looked away toward the full moon. Karin returned her gaze to the Hyuuga. "We've been watching you for a while now, making sure nothing happened to you. Sorry we didn't jump in earlier, but we were told ROOT wouldn't dare to hurt you. When we realized he was serious, we jumped in immediately."

Hinata shook her head. "No, i-it's fine. I'm alright now…"

"Whoa, hey you two. I don't think this guy's ROOT?" Suigetsu called from behind them. Turning around, they spotted him lifting the mask off of the dead ninja. They never expected to see a Kumogakure headband strapped to his head.

"K-Kumo?!" Karin gasped. "Are you kidding me?! That's the second time they've targeted this girl!"

Suigetsu nodded reached down between the two halves of the man's body. "Don't look like that's all either."

They blinked when he lifted a grime-covered scroll from the man's split stomach. Wiping off the filth, he opened it up and looked through what was left. Stomach acid did a wondrous job on fiber materials.

Suigetsu's eyes narrowed as he looked it over. "Well, things just got a bit more interesting," he commented with a knowing tone.

"What? Let me see!" Karin shouted as she tore the scroll from his hands, and holding it open so she and Hinata could read it together.

What they read left Hinata's veins frozen.

'_Hyuuga Hinata. Five-foot, two inches. Waist-length dark-blue hair. Pale skin. Usually wears white/purple jacket. Interrogate. Eliminate if necessary.'_

The message itself was astonishing enough, but what they saw at the end of it shocked them even more. Part of the page had decomposed from the would-be-assassin's stomach juices, but there was a faint remnant of a small brand at the end of the message. A small, but terrifyingly _familiar_ seal.

The seal of the Hyuuga clan.

If Hinata's blood hadn't frozen inside her, it surely had now. No words left her mouth, and her body refused to move; her mind almost refused to even _think._

All that came out of her mouth were small garbled bits of words that couldn't seem to make sense.

Karin, wasn't known for sympathy, but even she knew that in the past few seconds this girl's world must have been turned upside-down. Comfortingly placing an arm around the terrified and confused Hyuuga's shoulders, she pulled her tightly close to herself.

"What do we do, Suigetsu?" she asked, her tone coming out more soft and concerned than she'd intended.

The sword-wielder was silent for a moment before he reached down and plucked the scroll from her hands, rolling it up and attaching it to his waist. "We do as we were told. Get her up."

Karin scowled and nodded, lifting the girl up gently. "Poor girl's in shock," she commented as Hinata didn't seem to react at all.

"That's just as well. Let's go."

She nodded and followed the young man, leaping into the air after him with Hinata's arms around her shoulders.

As they left though, they failed to see the flicker of darkness from a nearby alley. Out stepped a white-cloaked individual. His eyes followed the retreating trio as they fled the scene, but they weren't his primary objective. Stepping up to the rapidly cooling corpse, he stooped down and picked up the ANBU mask that had fallen on the ground. So much like his own, he spared it only a glance before noticing the Kumogakure headband. _'Just like they said…'_ He'd heard enough of the three's conversation that he didn't need to have the scroll to know what had transpired. Unlike this imposter, _real_ ROOT operatives were far more capable. Not to mention deadly.

'_Hyuuga conspiring with Kumo agents… Danzou-sama will want to know this.'_ With a _fwip_ of his hand, two more ROOT appeared beside him and got to work retrieving the corpse. In truth, they'd been assigned to keep track of Sasuke's old partners, Suigetsu and Karin, even as they were assigned by Sasuke to keep track of Hyuuga Hinata. In the course of their duty, this wouldn't be the first bifurcated corpse they'd have to clean up.

'_That Suigetsu needs to learn to clean up after himself,'_ he mused silently.

Trusting his comrades to do their jobs, he flickered away back to base to report.

* * *

**A/N: And there you have it! I'll be honest, this wasn't as serious a chapter as I'd liked to have made it, but whatever; I tried to remedy that by going back to the Naruto-verse there at the end. You see, I like to think of the world of League of Legends to be wrought with corruption and darkness, despite the fact that the game is rather light and funny, and I have a hard time transitioning from what I want and what I'm familiar with. I will endeavor to do so in the next chapter!**

**Until next time, I bid you all good day, good night, and a merry, merry Christmas!  
**


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